


Toxicity

by xXxCrimsonDreamsxXx



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Bad Decisions, Bittersweet Ending, Fix-It, M/M, Major Character Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Bowman, SOLtis Ai | Ignis, Slow Romance, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Stabbing, Suicide, Tags May Change, Tragic Romance, What if S03 went like this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26653831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXxCrimsonDreamsxXx/pseuds/xXxCrimsonDreamsxXx
Summary: Ai disappeared after the last duel against Bowman and losing his family. Yusaku thinks that he has no reason to return, but his absence begins to awaken some emotions Yusaku didn't know how to deal with. Meanwhile, Ai plans to return to Yusaku, still trying to decide who he wants to protect.
Relationships: Ai | Ignis & Fujiki Yuusaku, Ai | Ignis & Lightning, Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku, Fujiki Yuusaku & Lightning, Fujiki Yuusaku & Zaizen Aoi, Implied Ai | Ignis/Lightning, Implied Fujiki Yuusaku/Zaizen Aoi - Relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 33
Kudos: 45





	1. His name is...

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii!
> 
> This new fic will be updated every Friday if I can.  
> I no longer promise to update in time, but I do promise to do my best xd
> 
> Also, I didn't forget "Enlightened", I wrote some more chapters but it needs some check and correction. And I've been too busy to do it right. Sorry for the waiting.
> 
> Today would be a year since VRAINS ended, so I decided to post this story that I have been writing since January.
> 
> I hope you like it, and if you don't... sorry lol
> 
> * This fic happens after the end of the second season, that means, third season didn't happened *

Darkness embraced his broken heart. He was trying to fix it, all those pieces that were slipping out of his hands, they were like rotten data. Irreparable.

The taste of victory was bitter. The question that knocks his door so much was whether that moment Bowman was defeated and all humans regained their respective lives at the expense of the Ignis' lives could be called a real victory.

_By siding with humans, you closed the Ignis's future with your own hands. I hope you don't regret it._

Bowman's words echoed in his head, over and over again, making his insides throb painfully.

His family…

His life…

He lost it.

Yes, he could live with humans, but what would happen? Could he get used to that life when bitterness could be tasted much more than the so-called sweet victory?

It hurts, it hurts so much to think that the victory had been for one person; that person was the reason why it was so difficult to choose a side.

Ignis, humans…

Why should fate be this combative?

"I…"

His voice echoed in dark solitude, he was in a totally empty, lonely, and cold place, where he could sink into his anguish and cover his eyes trembling with the truth that appeared in his transformed heart.

"... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Ai, it was to be expected," whispered a deep voice to him, startled his small snuggled body, recognizing the owner of that voice.

"Lightning?!"

How was it possible to hear him if he...?

He stopped covering his eyes to look around.

There was no one, not a single light to prove his presence. "I must be freaking out," he said to himself, shaking his head.

"None of that, Ai, we're not dead yet"

Despair was mixed with empty hope. "You mean, you guys are alive?! How...? Where are they?! Take me with them!"

"Don't get so desperate, I wish I could take you right now, but unfortunately we're stuck in a backup. I can only connect to your consciousness," the Light Ignis explained.

Ai frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you calm down? It'll be long to explain"

"Don't fuck with me! Explain yourself right now! And better not be another one of your games, Lightning!" Ai let out all the rage that piled up in his chest, showing himself furious at his brother, Lightning, who's always been lying to this day and playing with them as chess pieces for his own benefit. Ai didn't know why he was even looking for an explanation.

"Why would I lie to you? If I want to live too."

"How do you expect me to trust you?"

"I can feel your pain from where I am, Ai. We can all feel it, and I have felt the injustice that I myself have caused, but you cannot deny that humans caused it too" Lightning's voice sounded soft, calm, away from malice. Maybe there was a shred of regret.

Or maybe…

Ai was so desperate to get a little hope that it depended on Lightning's tantalizing light.

What did he have to lose? If he'd already lost everything.

"I won't apologize now, I will as soon as I see you, if you can save us"

"Save us? Are you with Aqua, Earth, Flame and Windy?" Ai was excited, nervous, thought of each of them and felt the need to release a few tears.

"We're all in one place, right now I was the only one capable of manipulating the Link Sense to speak to you"

"Link Sense?" Ai asked extremely confused.

"That's right, your connection to Play... Fujiki Yusaku persists and thanks to that I can connect with you"

"How can you do that? How come you guys are alive?"

"It's not that we're alive, Ai, we're in some kind of limbo, and it's the decision that you're going to make what's going to get us out of there or not" Lightning sighed, as if it were difficult for him to explain the following, as if he were tired "Remember the card you received because Aqua gave you our bonded strength?"

"Firewall Dragon Dark Fluid" Ai whispered the name of the card that gathered everyone's wishes, pronounced it almost wistfully.

"That one. For now, it's still in Fujiki Yusaku's hands. It could be said that our wishes are still gathered in his consciousness, and in his deck. Now, replace the word 'wishes' with 'data'.”

There were a few seconds of silence until Ai bowed his head and sighed with surrender. "I don't understand," he replied awkwardly

"What Aqua gathered was much more than just wishes, Ai, it was _data_. That means, it made a small backup of our existence. Do you understand now?"

Ai's eyes shone, hope increased causing him to no longer think clearly, he was not doubting whether Lightning's words were true or not, he wanted to believe in them. "Then there's still a chance! I just have to get the card back!"

"Not so fast," Lightning interrupted him.

"Don't tell me there's more!" Ai complained

"There's a part of our data in that card, yes, but what really matters is what lies in Fujiki Yusaku's Link Sense"

"Uh? What do you mean? Link Sense is just his connection between the virtual world and the real world"

"That's right, a power he has because of you. A power where you can hold a serious amount of data within your consciousness, where you can feel much more than the virtual world"

"I understand you less and less, Lightning. Can Yusaku save data like us?"

"It's not that simple, the Link Sense allows him, but he doesn't seem to have noticed that yet. You must take it off, seize that power to get us back"

"I can't take something like that from him, it's not like it's a physical thing, you know?"

"Yes, it is," Lightning responded firmly, startling Ai "The Link Sense is part of nothing but his consciousness, and our backup is there"

Ai's body was starting to tremble. Hope had faded and only anguish grown within him. "Y-You mean that…"

"That's right. You'll have to take Fujiki Yusaku's conscience to save us"

Ai felt as if those words stabbed him completely, helplessness and indecision clustered together to set his desperation, yet he didn't want to give up. He wasn't going to believe in that possibility.

So, after a few seconds, he took all his strength to laugh.

"Such a good joke, Lightning! Take Yusaku's conscience! How am I even going to do that?!" Ai was still laughing. When he managed to calm his laugh, he wiped a tear that fell from his eye while holding his belly, and dared to ask, "Now, tell me, what's the real plan?"

There was no answer for a long minute, frightening the Dark Ignis because of the cold silence that was then replaced by a furious yell that gave Ai a violent jolt.

"It offends me that you're making fun of our situation! You think this is a joke? Can't you feel our pain? You're still so attached to those humans, to that human that you don't even realize you've already been forgotten! They are getting their lives back, laughing, eating, sleeping, and living while we scratch the darkness to get out of this void that is consuming us. Don't you realize?! You're the only one left, but you were dying inside! Look at them!"

"I…"

A group of digitized images appeared in front of his eyes full of regret, showing humans as Lightning described them. He could see Kusanagi smiling with his brother Jin, Aoi hugging Miyu in the hospital, Yusaku walking next to Takeru, who didn't look too empty by Flame's absence.

Yusaku was showing his back, Ai couldn't see his face. He saw him walk, hearing Takeru's words, but Ai couldn't see his expression.

Was he smiling? Could Yusaku smile?

"Those images don't prove that Yusaku is the same as them, it doesn't prove that he doesn't miss me"

"Ah, that means, if that human missed you, would you kill us in order to receive that empty affection?"

"I didn't say that!"

Lightning sighed. "It will be another difficult fight for you. You're going to have to get close to that boy and check the truth with your own eyes. Humans forget easily. I hope you're not just like them, Ai"

That said, the voice seemed to disappear into a soft echo. Ai shuddered, the images disappeared, but they were burning his mind.

He could hear them laugh, feel the happiness of humans with some pain.

Takeru didn't miss Flame? Could he smile so easily? And Aoi, didn't she recognize that Aqua fought by her side to save that girl named Miyu?

Yusaku…

Yusaku.

That name was constantly repeating, it was the name that gave him the most problems. It was the name he had to delete to save his family.

Why did he have to live in this painful dichotomy? Why?

~°~

The shower rain struck his eyes, forcing him to close them and taking him into the world of thoughts while allowing the water to hug his soapy body.

Every morning, every afternoon, every night. Yusaku always thought of him.

That little AI who perched on his duel disk, who gave him words full of courage and friendship when he thought he would never see him again. He hadn't lied when he said he was happy he came back safely, he never wanted to lose him.

Who would say that after his fight with Bowman it would all be over, as was his relationship with his Ignis?

Ai no longer had a reason to be with him, it was natural that he would no longer be by his side.

But…

What was this emptiness?

A tear ran through his cheek, disguised by the water.

Why did it hurt so much?

After his shower, Yusaku put on a hoodie on top of a T-shirt and jeans, getting ready to attend Kusanagi's truck, who gave him the job of opening it in the morning, so he could go see his brother Jin, since he still had to stay in the hospital for a few days.

Even with all that success after his victory with Bowman, his pain and emptiness were still there.

Everyone was able to move forward with their lives, while he was still stuck in limbo.

It's like he doesn't belong in the humans life, like he can't fit in with anyone.

Revolver was far away and insisted on the return of the Dark Ignis as a threat, after a persistent discussion, they never saw each other again.

Takeru was able to take a step forward, despite the pain caused by Flame's absence in his life, he did his best to go on, as Flame and his parents would have wanted, and returned to his town, to build his own future.

Aoi and Kusanagi lived the happiness of being able to save the lives of those they cared about.

Yusaku was happy for them, but could he say he was happy for himself too?

Again, there was an abyss where he couldn't escape. There was something he was needing, and it was unreacheable.

What was its name?

"Earth calling Fujiki-kun!"

Snaps and a female voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He shook his head, blinking distracted to meet Aoi's smile.

"Do you need something?" Yusaku asked with his usual indifference, taking care to open the truck, realizing that he hadn't set it yet.

The square was empty, it was weekend and too early.

"I was just wanting to see how you were doing," the girl replied innocently, drawing circles on the floor with her shoe and putting her hands behind her back.

Her words surprised Yusaku, flipping slightly to look at her with confusion. "Why?"

"Because I thought Playmaker would feel pretty lonely after his partner left"

Yusaku startled. How does she know...?

Aoi let out a giggle. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Homura-kun said goodbye to me, before leaving…"

_"See ya! Thanks for everything, Blue Maiden!"_

_The boy bowed slightly and when he came back to look at her, noticing her surprise, he winked at her with a smile. It wasn't difficult for Aoi to connect the dots and realize what was going on, after Takeru explained himself and openly confessed that he was nobody but Soulburner._

Yusaku found it obvious, Takeru couldn't leave without thanking Blue Maiden; Aoi Zaizen, for her help in battle. He assumed it wouldn't be too serious for them to know about their identity either, as Link Vrains was closed.

Yusaku thought he'd never hear Playmaker's name again as they looked him in the eye.

"Homura-kun was always with you, and I will not deny that I had my tiny suspicion that I ignored, but now I'm sure you're Playmaker. Am I wrong?"

Yusaku blinked, keeping quiet for a few seconds. "No, you're not wrong"

Aoi's eyes shone with a strange emotion. It wasn't joy, she wasn't smiling. She worried her lips, nervous, turning her gaze away with a slight shyness.

Then, as well as so, the girl bowed, bowing her head so much that her nose could touch her knees.

"Thank you so much for everything," she said firmly, and without looking up "You were always there to save me and my brother. You protected us, saved us all, and wanted to meet you so I could thank you in person" she straightened and smiled, her eyes shining now with gratitude. "Thank you. Really"

Yusaku didn't know what to say, or what to feel about it, he did nothing but nod and respect the girl's words.

"Although, I'm really sorry I couldn't do more in the last battle," Aoi tilted her head slightly, her hand passing through her left wrist, and Yusaku understood what she meant.

Ai could return at any time, but Aqua, Flame, Earth, none of the other Ignis could return.

"You gave your best fight, we couldn't do more" Yusaku comforted the girl, while trying to comfort himself, resisting the need to bite his lip to hold the knot in his throat because of his anguish.

"We'd have to tell your partner that, wouldn't we?" Aoi suddenly said, staring at the boy, showing concern "He didn't come back since that time, he must feel guilty about what happened"

"That's what I'd like to prevent, but I guess he needs his space. It's also not like he has a reason to come back, he's no longer my hostage"

"But you want him back"

Yusaku shuddered, his eyes wide opened at those words. So that was why... that was why he had such an annoying feeling.

He missed Ai. Not only that, he wanted to make sure he was okay. Surely, he was living in a dying loneliness, the same one Yusaku had lived through. He needed to know how Ai was, even if it was just a few minutes of conversation. He needed to see him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken it out" Aoi was feeling guilty, noticing the tense expression the other was showing inadvertently. She couldn't stop thinking so much about Aqua either, guilty caught her every night.

"No, I'm fine. It's better for Ai to stay away from humans for a while, that's what we promised, that he should stay safe" Yusaku answered, hoping the conversation would stop soon, as he finished preparing the truck.

People were starting to gather in the square, it was time to work.

"Since I'm here, I'll be your first customer of the day," Aoi tried to ease the conversation with a nice tone "A coffee, please"

The girl was looking in her purse to pay her coffee, but before she could give him the money, Yusaku put his palm in front of her. "It'll be free for you"

Aoi blinked confused, her cheeks blushing. "Y-You don't need to…"

"I do, for your help. Well, actually, the free coffee was for Takeru, but the situation is the same for both of us"

The brunette nodded shyly, sitting on one of the chairs to wait for her coffee. While Yusaku looked busy with other customers, she tried to look elsewhere, more specifically towards large screens showing advertising for the new technology offered by the company where her older brother worked.

The SOLtis were innovative, artificial intelligences created to serve humans. Aoi told her brother that she found them a bit terrifying. They had human form, they looked like real humans, but they weren't. They didn't even have free will.

They weren't going to risk making the same mistake as the Ignis, after the duel with Bowman went public.

Although people—young people—were devoted in their fanatism for Playmaker and treating him like a hero like no other. Aoi was not going to deny that, but she could understand whether Yusaku felt that title with some bitterness.

The girl rested her chin on her hand and sighed. _"Did we really do everything we could?"_

~°~

He disappeared.

The dark winter sky covered them. The night came, all the families would be preparing for dinner right now, while Yusaku barely made it to his apartment and threw himself to bed.

He hugged the pillow, watching Roboppi in a corner of his room, completely off. They were gone, too.

Maybe they were with Ai surfing the net? If so, Ai wasn't alone.

He buried his face a little more on the pillow. It was a relief.

His phone rang.

Confused and tired Yusaku answered. It was a video call from Takeru.

He lay on his back and raised the phone so Takeru could see his face during the call.

"What's up?" he answered with a weary tone.

Takeru looked like he was seating, in a place that seemed to be his room. "I guess better than you. You look terrible, Yusaku,” he chuckled.

"I guess so," Yusaku gave him a little smile as he answered.

"There's not much to say for me, I wanted to know how things were doing there,"

"Nothing's changed since you left, except that now Zaizen Aoi knows who we are now, and I can blame you for that," he replied sarcastically.

Takeru chuckled again, this time nervously. "I couldn't leave without telling her anything, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. Besides, it's also not like a very big deal, she looks like a girl who knows how to keep a secret, considering that she has the same secret as us"

"Yes, you're right, and with Link VRAINS closed, that name will no longer apply to us"

Takeru nodded. "I hear SOL Technologies is producing something called SOLtis"

Yusaku kept a serious expression at the mention of that. "Let's hope it's not another sudden change for humans"

"Yeah…"

Takeru's reply was as gloomy as his face, worrying Yusaku. "Is something wrong?"

Takeru shook his head slightly. "Nothing, I was just thinking…"

"About Flame"

He spent enough time with Takeru to recognize his expressions and a look that seemed to shed a few tears at any moment. "Yeah, and about the humans. Had you ever thought maybe it was our fault from the beginning? Well, not _ours_ , but other people, those who are selfish enough to destroy the same world where they live to get rich"

Yusaku blinked attentively at his words and kept quiet. Yes, he was right, but that gave Lightning no reason to do what he did.

There were still people who were able to protect those who couldn’t fight and take them away from an inevitable battle as soon as they had the opportunity.

Another nervous chuckle from Takeru pulled him out of his thoughts. "If Flame were here, he'd say my speech was too deep to come out from my mouth," he added, scratching the bridge of his nose.

Yusaku smiled. "Maybe"

"Well, Yusaku, I have to go. Let me know if…"

"Yes, I will," he replied almost immediately, " _I'll let you know if Ai comes back."_

"Good night"

Once both boys finished their conversations, the call ended and Yusaku released a heavy sigh.

Takeru's words left him a lot to think about.

~°~

"Fujiki-kun! Good morning!"

An annoying voice bothered his ear so early in the morning, he was a few steps from school. Shima always took care of resting his heavy hand on his shoulder and yelling in his ear every morning they entered school.

Yusaku just looked at him.

"What? Didn't you hear the rumors? The vacancy that only a week ago was free, was supposedly taken by a boy who comes from another city, say that there were many willing to take the vacancy but that he bribed the principal with a big ass sum of money…"

Shima kept talking about the possible new boy, who was surely an arrogant boy who just showed off his belongings and degrees to get in the school. Why insisting on being in this school was a mystery that Yusaku wasn't too interested in.

They entered the school together, in their respective class, without Shima stop talking and realizing that Yusaku had stopped listening to him for a long time.

Shima was perhaps that kind of person who spoke just to listen to himself. His persistence was admirable.

The teacher arrived, forcing Shima to shut his mouth. Yusaku allowed himself to rest his head on his hand, keeping his eyes closed.

He hadn't slept well, and he needed a nap.

"Good morning, students. Before we start class, I would like to introduce your new classmate…"

The boy raised his hand in front of the teacher, wearing an arrogant smirk that made the girls sigh. "I can introduce myself, thank you, teacher," he had a soft voice, which was neither very deep nor too sharp.

Yusaku took the trouble to open his eyes to see the new boy's appearance, though he wasn't too interested.

The boy was tall, even more than the teacher. He didn't look like a high school student. His face wore mature features, almond eyes with rather intense golden orbs, long, thin nose and a remarkable chin.

You could say they were the characteristics of a handsome boy's face. Although Yusaku was too unaware of that title.

The color of his hair could be interesting. He wore it long, covering his shoulders, black with gold tips and purple bangs with pink tufts. Besides, he wasn't wearing the tie that came with his uniform, he was wearing a black tie that covered half his neck, so much so that it seemed to suffocate him. He was wearing the tie in a victorian way, with an elegant brooch that caught the knot.

The rest was the uniform as they knew it.

In his eyes he denoted a strange determination, which could perhaps only be called a high awareness towards his own person that not many had, someone who was sure that he would get everything he wanted with a single click.

Disinterested by his personality, Yusaku returned to close his eyes, focusing on his nap.

The last thing he could hear was his name.

"My name is Fujimoto Daisuke, but you can call me...

... Ai"


	2. Name it as you want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yusaku is a mess with his feelings, and Daisuke behaves like Ai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would get late to my own funeral, really.
> 
> Thank you for your kudos! Comments and kudos are so well appreciated

"My name is Fujimoto Daisuke, but you can call me…"

_Ai…_

_Ai._

"Ai!" Yusaku exclaimed, rising from his chair, dropping it to the ground. He was looking surprised at the boy in the distance, who looked back at him making a face that denoted confusion.

The whole class had kept quiet as they were watching Yusaku's weird behaviour.

Yusaku's hands trembled, pressing on the polished furniture so hard that his fingers turned as white as the paper of his notebook. A cold drop of sweat ran down his back.

No.

He couldn't be…

Ai couldn't be a human.

But why would he want to?

The chuckle of the so-called Daisuke interrupted his cavilations. "Actually, I said they could call me 'Dai,' but 'Ai' sounds a lot prettier," the boy replied. He took a finger to his chin and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling "If my name were 'Daisuki' instead of 'Daisuke' maybe the nickname would sound better"

"Fujiki, just sit down and stop sleeping in my class," the teacher said, interrupting the conversation with a fulminant glance at the student who was still processing his mistake.

Yusaku didn't nod, nor said anything else, he ignored the whispers around him. Yusaku swore to have heard 'Ai' instead of 'Dai', although there was a high probability for him to confuse, considering he was on the verge of falling asleep and his mind was too stimulated with the conversations he had with Aoi and Takeru.

Yusaku was always thinking about Ai, wondering where he was and what he was doing.

The class continued as soon as the presentation of the new boy finished and he managed to sit in a place not so far from Yusaku, but close to several girls and specifically to the window, where he looked almost all the time when the teacher began the lessons. The emerald-eyed boy didn't take his gaze away to meet the new boy either.

When he walked near his shoulder he could feel a slight shudder, a feeling that could be called something familiar, but he couldn't decipher it.

Maybe he didn't get enough sleep and was already thinking crazy things.

The hour passed, Yusaku managed to forget about that Fujimoto trying to resume his well-deserved nap that the teacher and that boy had interrupted. His face was buried in his arms resting on his desk, his eyes closed in relief and plunged into darkness.

"Hey, Fujiki-kun! What the hell was that?"

Yusaku vaguely raised his face with narrowed eyes, recognizing the heavy hand and the voice that entered through his ear to interrupt his attempt to rest.

"What?" He asked playing dumb, in a voice that showed his exhaustion.

"Did you think it would be funny? Yes, his nickname is ridiculous, but …"

Yusaku interrupted Shima's words, getting up from his seat and leaving the room, not being able to rest not so much because of Shima, but because of the noise that the girls made when using the lunch hour to take Fujimoto's notes and get his irrelevant personal information, like his favorite food, if he was single and so on.

"Hey! Fujiki-kun! Don't ignore me!"

The emerald-eyed boy heard Shima yelling at him in the distance as he continued walking, hoping that Shima wasn't following him.

Surely, someone was following him, but it wasn't specifically Shima but another boy who had dared to speak to him despite his lone wolf appearance.

"You…"

Hearing this and feeling a hand on his shoulder, Yusaku turned around with some caution, meeting those golden eyes that were as penetrating from near and far. He wore an ear to ear smile.

"Fujiki, right?"

Yusaku shrugged. "Yes," he said looking at him from head to toe, "Fujiki. Fujiki Yusaku,"

"I suppose you were distracted when I introduced myself, but I'll introduce myself again," Fujimoto started to say wearing a silly smile as he scratched the back of his neck.

Yusaku turned his back on him, slightly shaking his head. "No need, I know your name, Fujimoto Daisuke."

"Shima-kun told me you were a cold boy," the golden-eyed one commented with a laugh.

"I see," Yusaku replied without further ado.

"I like it," the new boy said suddenly, causing Yusaku to stop in his steps.

"You like it?"

He turned confused at his words seeing a soft smile on his face. "That nickname. Ai. I'll let you call me that"

"Whatever, _Daisuke_ ," Yusaku emphasized that name, implying that he wouldn't call the boy any other way.

That boy didn't know what that name meant, what he called a simple nickname. He wasn't going to call anyone else that, because that name belonged to only one person—Ignis—.

To be honest, Yusaku was impatiently waiting for Daisuke to stop insisting on talking to him because, for some reason, ever since that boy got close, the emerald-eyed began to feel too restless. As if his heart was pounding so hard it could break out of his chest.

It was the same feeling he had when his Link Sense started to act.

Yusaku shook his head.

He was walking through the corridors looking for a secluded place, in front of him he could see Blue Maiden, or, rather, Zaizen Aoi approaching his direction.

Seeing that the door of the ‘Duel Club’ was next to him, he could deduce that the brunette was about to enter that club.

Yusaku didn't care too much about that but the face that the girl wore.

She looked upset.

They both stopped in their steps in front of the living room door, staring at each other. "Good morning, Fujiki-kun," the girl greeted with a fragile voice.

"Good morning," he answered, confused and worried at the same time. "Is something wrong?"

Aoi blinked in surprise, as if it were weird for him to ask such a question. "Didn't you see the news?"

Yusaku shrugged.

Aoi sighed. "They robbed the central bank, emptied it completely, without leaving any kind of trace. The press doesn't suspect people but artificial intelligence, more specifically the SOLtis that my brother's company has been producing. They keep chasing and sticking to my brother like flies flying around the shi …"

"Good morning, Zaizen!" Shima interrupted the conversation with his eccentricity, accompanied by no one else and none other than Daisuke. "This is my apprentice, Fujimoto Daisuke," he said arrogantly.

"Senpai! You never told me there would be such a cute girl in the Duel Club! Now I won't hesitate to enter,” Daisuke uttered with exaggerated emotion, keeping a seductive tone at the end, taking Aoi's hand and brushing her knuckles with his lips.

Yusaku raised an eyebrow.

Aoi quickly removed her hand. "Uh, yeah. Welcome?"

"I'm sorry I get excited when I see such beautiful girls." Daisuke gave a clumsy chuckle, then turned his gaze to Yusaku.

"Yusaku-chan! Are you also in the club?"

_Yusaku-chan!_

_Yusaku-chan …_

Suddenly, it is as if Daisuke's voice became Ai's, referring to him in that way, with such confidence, carrying an impertinent behaviour.

Yusaku felt his entire insides shudder. He swallowed heavy. "N-No, I …"

Again those heartbeats were bothering him. What was happening?

Either way, he had to get out of there.

"Of course! Fujiki-kun is also a rookie like you who possibly wants to imitate Playmaker, but no one can do it, not even I who am his best friend.” Shima was back to talking smugly, belittling the rest of the aspiring duelists.

Aoi glanced at Yusaku with amusement, but it faded when she noticed him a little pale.

Yusaku had ignored all the stupid stuff that his classmate was saying, and continued to ponder the variety of sensations that accumulated in his chest. "I-I have to go," he said as he quickly brushed his shoulder against Daisuke's, pushing him gently and escaping from the people who had surrounded him before.

He couldn't forget the electric current that went through him when he brushed against that shoulder.

… Or maybe it was his imagination.

~°~

"Maybe it was your imagination, Yusaku," Kusanagi said nonchalantly, trying to calm his friend who appeared agitated at the Cafe Nagi after school. "Even if you don't want to admit it, you are still too distressed by everything that happened with the Ignis, nor we even know where Ai is and what he is doing with the guilt he might be feeling"

"Kusanagi-san, it's no coincidence, a rich boy bribing the principal to allow him a place in this school …"

"Possibly his family moved to this city for work, and he needed to be at that school. You know, businessmen stuff, maybe?"

"The same day the central bank was completely emptied? I don't want to agree with the press, but …"

"You'll agree with the press, do you think the SOLtis have something to do with this?"

Yusaku put his hand to his chin. "No, I think Ai has something to do with everything that was happening between yesterday and today. Perhaps Fujimoto Daisuke is not the person he claims to be, perhaps he is a SOLtis"

Kusanagi sighed, settling in the chair. "Yusaku, you are too paranoid. Why would Ai rob a bank? Why would he pretend to be someone else? Besides, if this Fujimoto guy were a robot, he would bear markings that would give him away. The SOLtis have a rather conspicuous mark in the center of their neck. Did you notice that?"

Yusaku was silent for a few seconds, thoughtful.

He was trying to remember Daisuke's figure, the way he wore his uniform and his tie.

His tie covered half his neck, he seemed to have something else to cover him, only a little bit of his Adam's apple could be seen, but it is as if he didn't want to expose more parts that were from his chin down.

"I will find out"

The older kept a serious expression, staring at the boy who looked seriously worried. "You miss Ai, right?"

Yusaku was startled, not realizing that his gaze was down, he raised it to see Kusanagi. "I can't afford to miss him, we knew that once the battle was over, we would take different paths. However, if I am right and Ai is involved in whatever this madness is, it is my duty as his partner to stop him"

Kusanagi sighed, turning his attention to his computers and starting to type. Yusaku frowned, confused. "What are you doing?"

"You never failed with your theories, and while I think you may be exaggerating a bit, we can't know if it's true or false if we don't find out. I'll see if I can get into Fujimoto Daisuke's data history"

"You don't need to get involved."

"It is, because I wish with all my heart that you were wrong"

Kusanagi's words had a weight on Yusaku's chest, leaving the interior of Café Nagi in deathly silence. Yusaku turned to leave, and before disappearing, he whispered, "Me too."

~°~

The next day, during school, even Shima hadn't approached Yusaku, as he was too busy pretending to be Daisuke's superior, older brother, know-it-all, who continued to listen to Shima as if he were a god to turn to whenever he had an existential doubt, when he wasn't flirting with girls who were practically drooling to hear him or be seen by those bright golden eyes.

It was just the day when Yusaku most needed to get closer to Daisuke, to test his theory. He needed to get close to that boy's neck, see if he had any marks on his face, on his hands; anywhere on the body, but it was impossible when everything was covered.

When it seemed that his opportunities were running out due to his lack of ability to get close to people, it was the teacher who brought them together because of a group math assignment.

As if Yusaku's requests had been heard, the group would be a maximum of two people and the golden-eyed boy had to sit next to Yusaku, despite Daisuke's fans' complaints.

Still, being so close to the boy, he couldn't get to any clues because his tie worked perfectly as a choker and covered where the mark that would reveal him as a SOLtis would likely be found. Yusaku mused as his bench partner flicked the pen on the tablet, solving the equations for at least half his part.

"Yusaku-chan? Have you finished your part yet? You have problems? I see you're too distracted" Daisuke leaned too close, leaning down to look at his nearly blank tablet to intrude on his thoughts.

Yusaku blinked in confusion. "No, I…"

"Look how easy it is, let me explain it to you," Daisuke interrupted, taking a page from a notebook and explaining the instructions with too much accuracy, even equations that could take Yusaku fifteen minutes, it took Daisuke only a few seconds. "Well, now that you understand this, you can do it on your tablet," he said smiling, returning the tablet to Yusaku, who was staring at him with a surprised expression.

"You work as fast as an AI," Yusaku commented.

Daisuke chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, they told me that."

"I want to ask you out," Yusaku said bluntly.

Daisuke gasped in surprise, blushing slightly.

"I'm not saying about 'going out' as in _going out_ , but about getting together to finish this work. I guess couldn't understand some stuff and the class is about to end. I know of a place where we could go out for a drink" Yusaku was babbling nervously, it was the first time he had asked someone out, even though his intentions were clearly disinterested in socializing, his mind had never prepared those words.

However, his theory was that, if he was not wearing the uniform, he could not hide that mark, unless he was wearing a choker, or a scarf.

If so, he needed to move to a heated place.

Then he couldn't bring him near Cafe Nagi.

The misfortune was that he knew of no other place.

"I like the idea, but let me invite you to a special place, if it doesn't offend you." Daisuke dared to wink his eye, returning the invitation.

It was Yusaku's turn to blush in surprise, while inside he was relieved for his rescue.

~°~

Yusaku was stunned. He didn't know that Den city had such a place, it looked luxurious, bright. Daisuke invited him to a rather flashy and formal restaurant for what Yusaku was wearing. It was his casual hoodie with his jeans, but the boy told him not to worry.

It wasn't like he cared too much. He was waiting to go in only to see Daisuke take off his scarf that sheltered him so much in addition to his elegant trench coat that had a resemblance to an exaggerated cape, with its golden edges and excessive shoulder pads for the boy's thinness, making him look older than he was. Also, he wore pants that only heaven knew how much he would have paid for along with well-polished shoes.

When they entered the restaurant, Daisuke had removed his trench coat, remaining in a black vest with gold trim and buttons that covered his purple shirt with the sleeves rolled up and buttoned, but what he had not removed was that damn embroidered scarf.

Yusaku frowned. "The heating can be felt, Daisuke, won't you take off your scarf?"

"If you can enter this restaurant with a hoodie, then I can enter with my scarf. Isn't that fair to you?"

Yusaku sighed. Sooner or later he would feel hot and take off his scarf, he just had to be patient. His pride couldn't be that persistent.

As the waiter led them to an empty table and handed them the menu, Yusaku tried to ignore the stares of the rest who were wearing clothes that could be named as 'elegant'. He was here for a simple reason and he couldn't bear if anyone decided to interfere with his life and the way he dressed.

Yusaku hid his face with the menu, noting the sky-high prices the restaurant offered. He didn't imagine who could afford something like that.

Well, maybe Zaizen, but there were prices that even Zaizen might not be able to afford.

That gave him an idea.

"Well, Yusaku-chan? What are you going to ask?"

"I'd ask you to stop calling me that," he snapped, "And I'll ask for this too."

He showed him the menu and pointed to the most expensive dish in the restaurant. See if Daisuke could afford something like that.

Daisuke blinked in surprise and then smirked. "It seems that Cinderella isn't happy with a one-night carriage."

Yusaku smiled slightly.

Daisuke snapped and called for the waiter. "We will ask you for this."

Yusaku immediately erased his smile when he noticed Daisuke pointing to the expensive plate he had asked for a few seconds ago.

When the waiter left, he dared to ask. "How can you pay for all this?"

"Because I'm not going to pay for it."

There were a few seconds of silence as they looked at each other.

" _You_ 'll pay for it," Daisuke added.

Yusaku clenched his fists and was about to yell at him until he heard him laugh. "Just kidding, just kidding. Take it easy," he said, "Let's say, I received an award after a tragedy"

Yusaku frowned, he could only refer to one thing. "An inheritance"

"Exactly!" He replied snapping his fingers while smirking. "I lost my family, my parents, my brothers. I only had my little cousin left, after our uncles abandoned us"

Daisuke's gaze darkened. Yusaku felt strange, as if he could connect with Daisuke's anguish, so, he decided not to inquire more in his life for the moment.

They were in deathly silent until the dishes arrived. Yusaku's emerald eyes stayed penetrating his plate, as if it were only there for him to look at.

Daisuke frowned, concerned. "What's the problem? Doesn't it look good? Don't you like Kobe beef?"

Yusaku gave him a face full of disbelief. "It's not like I've ever had a chance to order Kobe beef," he muttered.

"When you live from HotDogs …"

That comment perfectly reached his ear and he was startled. "How do you know that?"

Daisuke kept an expression of innocence. "Shima-senpai told me."

Yusaku couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Now eat before it gets cold," the boy urged him with a friendly smile.

The young duelist pressed his lips together and continued to stare at the meat. He swallowed heavy. "Thanks for the food," he whispered.

Yusaku didn't really care, but it gave him a strange feeling as a student to be taking math classes in a fancy restaurant, eating a piece of meat that practically melted on his tongue as soon as he touched it. It was exquisite and he couldn't hide it, Daisuke kept mentioning the emotion he noticed in his eyes.

Yusaku thought that when they finished their food it would all end right there, after all, he really didn't need math instructions, he was only looking for the boy to take off his damn scarf and he didn't even seem to feel the intensity of the heater that was already beginning to affect even Yusaku, next to the tea and the meat that warmed his throat.

However, the dinner lasted too long, because Daisuke kept spoiling him with food, insisting that he order dessert and something to take home. Yusaku found it unthinkable but he couldn't do more when the boy was so persistent.

When he saw that Yusaku couldn't decide, Daisuke took the lead over other his tastes. "You know what? I'll order it for you"

That was what he said before whispering to the waiter the order that would seem to be a surprise to Yusaku.

Soon a single plate had arrived at the table for him. "The dango is delicious, and I thought I couldn't go wrong," Daisuke commented resting his chin on his own hands clasped with his elbows on the table.

Yusaku was thankful that he had tried the dango earlier, and that he hadn't asked for something as exclusive as he had thought. He was also concerned about what he might have asked to take home.

Despite all this, the million dollar question was …

"Why are you doing this?"

Daisuke's smile stretched, still looking at Yusaku. "Because you're the only friend I have."

Yusaku raised an eyebrow. "What about Shima? Besides, I only asked you to help me with my homework, that doesn't mean anything"

"It means a lot from what they told me about you."

"You get carried away by rumors, huh?"

"What I see are not rumors."

"What if I tell you that I want to take advantage of your money? That maybe I'm investigating you? What would you do then?"

Daisuke brought his face a little closer, at least as far as the table allowed. "I would get closer to you."

Yusaku, by reaction, drew back. "Why?"

"Because you are interesting."

They stared at each other after those serious words came out of Daisuke's mouth. It was difficult to decipher when he was joking and when not, to discover if there were also hidden intentions in the boy or he was just someone desperate for friends.

Suddenly, Daisuke sighed and leaned back, resting his hands on his own lap. "Come on, Yusaku-chan! This is my way of making friends, okay?" He said in a squeaky but relaxed voice. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time someone close to me betrayed me," he whispered, darkening his gaze.

Yusaku frowned.

As they left the restaurant, the wind began to beat strongly. Yusaku regretted not having worn a scarf like Daisuke.

"Thanks for dinner, and for helping me with my homework," Yusaku said absently, looking askance at the tall boy, noticing that he seemed not to shiver from the sudden cold. "Are you cold?" He asked quickly.

Daisuke looked confused.

"I mean, because you didn't take off your scarf even once," Yusaku explained.

"Ah, let's say yes," he muttered.

Yusaku kept watching him, watching how he stretch the scarf to cover his chin. He dared to bring his hand to Daisuke's, feeling the thinness of his fingers that were surprisingly not cold.

"W-What are you doing?!" Daisuke stammered, looking startled by Yusaku's sudden action.

"I wanted to warm your hands, but I see that I'm the only one who keeps them cold," he replied, slowly releasing the other's hand, listening to his own heart beat and ignoring the current of energy that passed through him.

"S-Sure." Daisuke looked away, blushing.

"Lend me your scarf," Yusaku asked firmly.

"Now what?!"

"I'm cold and I forgot my scarf."

Daisuke brought his hand to the scarf, clinging to it.

There could be three reasons why he wasn't going to hand over the scarf.

First, because he would not risk lending a garment to someone he had just met, despite having spent a lot of money on that person.

Second, because that scarf carries a special meaning for him.

Third, because it is a SOLtis and he needs to hide that mark.

"I'll freeze to death if I take it off," he excused himself.

It was the worst excuse he could give him.

"Your coat can be closed up to the neck," Yusaku pointed out.

"Stop bothering with my damn scarf, why do you insist so much?"

With the slight current of energy lingering inside him, and the strange sensation of being so close to Ai when he was with Daisuke made his heart race, turning him into a totally different person than he usually is. He couldn't measure his actions at that moment, and he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't see that boy's neck.

He needed to check it out.

He insisted because …

… He needed to see Ai.

The only way Ai could transform into something similar to a human was through the SOLtis, right?

These feelings were no coincidence.

That was why …

…he was desperate.

"What are you hiding with that scarf, Daisuke? Tell me!"

He caught the taller boy off guard, stretching his arm to the garment that sheltered his throat, easily undoing the knot that held him and finally uncovering Daisuke's neck, who took a few steps back.

Yusaku was stunned, agitated and his hands began to shake and it was not from the cold.

His eyes were seeing the answer to all his questions, generating more questions.

On his neck was …

…a scar.

As if someone had wanted to cut his throat, but it was not accurate.

"Was that what you wanted to see?" Daisuke uttered with a trembling voice, taking back his scarf as he felt that Yusaku had loosened his grip. "I guess I should have told you, but it was a secret. I think you have many, Yusaku."

Yusaku began to gasp, an unbearable lump in his throat.

So what was all he was feeling?

What was it…?

He felt the need to run, to get away from that boy who caused so many strange sensations. He wanted to get away from all this, from his suspicions, his wishes, his questions.

He ran out before Daisuke could say anything else.

~°~

With Café Nagi closed, Kusanagi took the opportunity to finish his investigation, worrying slightly about Yusaku since he had sent him a couple of messages and he had not answered them. It was late at night, and they had arranged to meet after the planned dinner with this Daisuke.

He was about to go looking for him, but he just saw the door of his truck open, and there was the emerald-eyed boy, agitated and with a fatal expression.

"You're okay? What happened?" Kusanagi asked worriedly, holding him by the shoulders, since it looked like he was about to fall.

Yusaku rested his head on Kusanagi's chest and closed his eyes tightly. "No," he replied with a shaky voice. "I'm not fine."

"What's wrong?"

"You were right, it was all part of my imagination. I was wrong, I …"

Before continuing with his words, he swallowed heavily to try unsuccessfully to undo the lump in his throat that was bothering him so much. Yusaku looked up, surprising the older by showing him his eyes shining as if he were about to cry.

"I miss Ai."

~°~

Arriving at his hotel room, his scarf hung between his shoulders, while his hand was busy with the bag that carried the dessert that Yusaku had forgotten when he left.

The golden-eyed entered his room, which had the lights off. As soon as he closed the door, he leaned his back against it and brought his free hand to his neck.

A light shower of glittering data enveloped his scar, making it disappear and revealing a diamond that was the typical SOLtis mark.

"I'm sorry, Yusaku," he whispered.


	3. His thoughts and him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lightning opens Ai's eyes.  
> Aoi asks Yusaku for help.  
> Ai gets jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone's feedback! They made my week!

"You chose a very convincing avatar, Ai," Lightning's deep, soft voice spoke, echoing in Ai's mind.

Ai pressed his lips together, unhappy. "What did Yusaku want from me?" Ai whispered

"You are revealing the true faces of humans. Everyone is desperate because you took the money from that bank; women do not stop looking at you with lust and that stupid human ... What was his name?"

"Shima," Ai replied with a sigh, noticing that Lightning was ignoring his question.

"Shima is the epitome of growing arrogance in humans. Then we have the Zaizen brothers… The press attacks the older one for the production of SOLtis associating him with the bank robbery. I'm proud it's true, but can't you see, Ai? Humans are still at enmity with everything that is not flesh and blood, imagine if it were the Ignis instead of the SOLtis. They would have already murdered us!"

Lightning's voice echoed in his ears, his chest clenched as he found himself affirming that theory just by imagining his coexistence with humans.

Lightning was gone, none of the Ignis were there, just him in human form, and yet the humans were greedy and poisonous.

Why were girls approaching him? For an attractive physique.

Why did Shima make sure the new boy followed him everywhere? For his high need to show off.

Why was the press attacking the SOLtis? Because humans were afraid of sudden and unknown changes for their future.

But, there was another question and he wasn't sure of the answer. Perhaps that was what kept him in doubt still, and did not allow him to approach Yusaku as he wanted.

"Why did Yusaku insist on approaching me? Why did he want to...?"

"Fujiki Yusaku is not stupid, Ai, he will have already connected the dots, not to mention that the power of his Link Sense becomes stronger when you are close. He thinks that you are there, that you are Fujimoto Daisuke, but his uncontrolled emotions do not allow him to reason and find a feasible answer. The only conclusion he could have reached is that you are a SOLtis and that is why you took human form. Which is true, but we can't let that boy know"

"What would happen then?"

"If Fujiki found out about you, he would use you, manipulate you like he used to before …"

"That's a lie! Stop insulting my friend, Lightning! I can feel his sadness, his loneliness…! He surely… You said yourself that his feelings were out of control!" Ai argued.

He could hear a sigh from Lightning. "Do you still consider him a friend? I feel sorry for you," he said,"I have no intention of insulting him, I'm just telling the truth, after all, I'm the one who is connected to his thoughts and memories too"

Ai was startled. "Really? What does he think of me? Who is he thinking of? What was he thinking when he ran away from me?"

Ai felt a desperate agitation. He needed answers!

"A human like Yusaku cannot stay alone for long, when he knew that being with people is useful to him, he begins to gather them to use them to his advantage. I'm not saying that he doesn't feel anything for them, I just want to warn you that, if he shows any interest in you, Ai, it will be to use you, because of his terror of being alone. Did you forget that you were his ‘hostage’?"

Those words started to hurt, but Ai refused to believe him, the only thing he needed to know was Yusaku's true thoughts, which he still couldn't reach. Yes, with Link Sense he could feel his emotions, but what was the origin of that sadness and loneliness?

It was true, humans were afraid of being alone, and because of that, they were desperate to keep connections, to socialize. At times, some suffered from social anxiety and couldn't approach anyone so easily.

That could describe Yusaku.

Yusaku felt too much anxiety, Ai felt it, but couldn't recognize the reason.

However…

"Do you know when Yusaku's heart is relaxed?"

"Huh? When?"

He imagined it would be with Kusanagi-san or even Takeru, maybe even Revolver, remembering that he was the first person he could talk about his emotions easily.

"I found out a couple of days ago, so maybe it's not very accurate, but that girl …"

Ai gasped in surprise. "Zaizen Aoi?"

"That same one. They share the same anxiety and also have a pretty strong connection that even they didn't realize existed. That is why, Ai, Yusaku insisted so much on discovering your secret"

"He wasn't doing it for me, but for Aoi."

"Exactly, she appeared upset because they were chasing her older brother with all that SOLtis issue, and Yusaku can't stop playing the hero, even outside of Link VRAINS, so he tried to discover the culprit for the sake of that girl"

Ai was thoughtful, he wasn't too surprised if he thought about it that way, but it couldn't be just that that worried him.

Yusaku always acted strange when he was around him.

Although, if he connected the dots …

"Do you remember when you first got close to that girl like Fujimoto Daisuke? Well, right at that moment, I could feel Yusaku's jealousy boiling in his heart. Didn't you feel them?" Lightning asked.

The Dark Ignis was startled. "No, it didn't feel like that, but..." he stopped to remember that feeling when their shoulders collided, "I felt an intense rush of energy that wasn't positive."

Ai could hear someone clapping that maybe was Lightning. "Very good! Very good! I'm glad to see that the Link Sense between the two of you is still working perfectly. It's a shame that feelings aren't compatible, right?"

Hear this made him felt a twinge in his chest. What was this feeling?

"You want to live with a human who barely remembers you," Lightning muttered.

Ai shook his head. "M-Maybe he's just trying to forget me, he's not someone who gets too attached to anyone," he said as if trying to comfort himself.

"Really? But he was able to get attached to that lady, or at least, that's what is occupying his heart right now, I have not seen any sign of your existence in his emotional memories, and I have not heard him talk about you or Aqua with her either. Are you sure that human still loves you, or if he ever loved you?"

_Are you sure?_

The question was repeated over and over again, pain rising in his heart.

~°~

"Wake up sleepy head"

The boy hardly opened his eyes, feeling them as heavy as his head. Looking up, Yusaku was able to meet Kusanagi, who was smiling at him with a cup that emanated delicious smell of coffee.

Kusanagi chuckled. "You fell asleep in my chair, you were exhausted."

Yusaku quickly remembered what happened last night, and straightened up, rubbing his face with his hands. He no longer had anything to do with Daisuke, he didn't know why he kept thinking about it.

Daisuke was not Ai. Daisuke was not a SOLtis.

Who was Daisuke?

"Did you go to see your brother?" Yusaku asked hoarsely.

Kusanagi shook his head. "I couldn't leave you alone," he replied, handing him the warm cup of coffee.

Yusaku looked at him, startled. "Kusanagi-san!"

"It's okay, it's still morning and they told me that Jin was sleeping all night, he is no longer suffering from insomnia," he replied relaxed. "Besides, you needed me more," he smiled at him.

The emerald-eyed boy leaned his head in shame. "Sorry"

"Stop worrying yourself," said the older man, turning to attend to his computer, "While you were sleeping, I had time to finish my research on this boy, look at this."

Taking a sip of his coffee, Yusaku looked interested at the screen, seeing the data that stood out along with the image of his face. His name was Fujimoto Daisuke, he was sixteen, a normal birth date, normal blood type, normal ID number. Everything was normal. He was a normal boy.

But what about the scar?

_«I lost my family, my parents, my brothers. I only had my little cousin, after our uncles abandoned us »_

"Kusanagi-san, what happened to his family?"

Kusanagi was silent for a few seconds before sighing, crossing his arms. "The boy lost his family when he was ten years old. He lived in a mansion with his parents and his five brothers, they were a fairly large family that broke down in just a moment. Some thiefs set fire to his house, he was saved by sleeping at his uncles' house. Two years later, he was in a hospital for attempting suicide by cutting his neck. A movie-like tragedy"

Yusaku wanted to hit himself too hard after hearing this. He owed Daisuke a sincere apology.

That boy was left alone since he was ten years old, from what he told him in the restaurant, his uncles didn't seem to be very good people.

"Did you find anything about his uncles?"

"Just legal proceedings for Daisuke's inheritance. It was canceled, and I couldn't find more about the conclusion"

Yusaku brought his hand to his chin. "He received the inheritance and said his uncles abandoned him and his cousin. I understand that they may want to abandon their nephew, but their own son?"

"Are you really surprised by something like that, Yusaku?" Kusanagi pronounced with some irony, but soon changed to a more serious tone. "Although, you're right, it's a bit weird. Daisuke not only kept the entire inheritance but his cousin, and his uncles were left with nothing"

"Or they got something in exchange for being left alone. Daisuke has plenty of money to bribe, I saw it last night," Yusaku concluded, getting up from his chair and abandoning his cup. "I need to apologize. Do you know where he lives?"

Kusanagi got up quickly. "Hey, don't be too hasty. Why don't you tell him at school? Actually, you're getting late,” he said, pointing at the clock.

Yusaku blinked indifferently. "I see. You're right. Thanks for everything, Kusanagi-san"

He was about to get out of the truck, until Kusanagi stopped him. "Let me take you, you have to put your uniform on." He chuckled. "Seriously, you need to drink a little more of that coffee."

Yusaku had arrived terribly late to school, well, he had to stop by his apartment to wash his face and put on his uniform, then Kusanagi took him as best he could. However, as soon as he set foot on the school, the boy didn't bother to hurry. The only thing that mattered to him was arriving in time to see Daisuke and apologize to him.

Just that.

Yusaku entered the classroom as if the clock didn't exist, everyone turned to look at him. The emerald-eyed boy quickly took a look at Daisuke, who was sitting in his place by the window, looking reasonably uncomfortable.

The teacher sighed, denoting exhaustion. "These are not hours to arrive, Fujiki."

Yusaku ignored those words and went to his seat, getting a look from the teacher, who decided to just continue with his class.

At lunchtime, as soon as the teacher left the classroom, Yusaku got up from the chair, much faster than any other girl who wanted to get closer to Daisuke. The golden-eyed one was still staring up at the sky, with his chin on his hand, as if he were pondering too much. What was going through his mind?

No, Yusaku should stop meddling in his life, it only mattered to apologize and nothing else.

About to extend his hand, and open his mouth, someone approached the emerald eyed one.

"Fujiki-kun."

A soft voice got through his ears, he was surprised when he recognized that voice and realized when he turned around that the girl who was speaking to him was Aoi Zaizen. They didn't share the same class.

Why was she looking for him?

Ai looked away from the window, ignoring the approaching girls and noticing the only one who was talking to Yusaku. His insides stirred.

"What happen?" Yusaku asked the girl.

"I need to talk to you about …"

She was barely able to finish what she was about to say when someone stepped between the two of them as if not noticing that there were talking. "Yusaku-chan! You forgot this last night!"

Daisuke made a cheerful and childish appearance, almost jumping between the boy and the girl, showing a small rectangular box neatly wrapped.

Yusaku showed clear confusion, much like Aoi. Daisuke just grinned from ear to ear and added, "From the restaurant, do you remember we had dinner together?"

Now the only confused one was Aoi, Yusaku was just a bit uncomfortable. No, he wasn't forgetting it at all, in fact, it was the only thing he'd thought about since he woke up.

He took the box without realizing that his hand was shaking slightly. "Thank you. I didn't forget, I wanted to talk to you about that ... " he replied, stopping to notice the Aoi's presence, who was listening to the whole scene with a neutral expression but was probably surprised. "…later"

Daisuke didn't erase his smile, which Yusaku found strange. "No problem, I'll wait," he answered almost like an obedient child, patitng the head of the emerald-eyed boy.

This cheerful and childlike expression was completely erased as soon as Yusaku took care of what he was doing earlier. Ai watched him leave the classroom next to the girl who had saved VRAINS next to him, they spoke as if it was something common for them, something natural.

He might be happy that Yusaku was finally moving on with his life, but no. He was upset, he felt something in his chest that was too disturbing and did not allow him to genuinely smile again.

" _It hurts, right?"_

A voice inside him whispered.

Yes, it hurt a lot.

" _It's hateful_. _Frustrating. Makes you feel replaceable."_

Yusaku was forgetting, he was looking for new connections. Wasn't he thinking of the Ignis? Didn't Aoi remember Aqua? Yusaku didn't …

…remembered him?

~°~

"You? Hanging out with the new boy?"

Aoi stared at him in disbelief, raising an eyebrow. Her lips trembled as if she was trying not to laugh.

"I was looking for something, but don't give it much thought."

Yusaku kept his silence, he wasn't going to tell anyone else about his recent thoughts about Ai; he wouldn't talk about his weird idea of inviting him to a fancy restaurant to teach him math, or how he so quickly treated him like a friend and his sweet voice enthusiastically calling him out saying 'Yusaku-chan', as Ai would.

Daisuke had occupied his mind in the form of Ai, they had such similar behaviours and to which he had become accustomed that it was difficult to detach. However, last night he did his best to throw away all ideas that linked Daisuke to Ai.

Daisuke was no longer a part of his life, at least after he apologized to him.

"It's funny to see you receive a gift and accept it," Aoi pointed out.

"Did you expect me to be rude?"

"No, but you were looking at Fujimoto-kun with a lot of sparkle in your eyes. You looked very nervous"

Yusaku pressed the edges of the box, almost crumpling the paperboard. He was aware of his wave of emotions Daisuke still stirred on him but he had no idea it showed so much in his face. Although he didn't understand why he should explain himself in front of Aoi, so he didn't give the girl space to keep investigating.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Aoi pursed her lips, noticing Yusaku's desire to change the subject even if his face no longer said anything.

They were walking until they reached the rooftop and spoke with a little more privacy. The breeze hit them gently, cooling their muscles a bit.

The girl positioned herself in front of the railing, hanging her arms as she looked at the distant ground. "I need your help" she began to say seriously "They are blaming the SOLtis they used at the bank because the robbery happened from the computers. It is the only information they have, because the cameras don'tshow any irregularity, the money simply disappeared and they use the lack of information to attack SOL Technologies" she sighed "I want them to leave my brother alone, find the real cause and end with this. But, I can't do it without your help"

"What about Ghost Girl?"

Aoi shook her head in surrender. "She tried, but whoever did it, they left no trace. The money was not transferred anywhere, there are no records of someone or something taking it, it just disappeared. I refuse to believe that a SOLtis did it, although I can't think it was a ghost. That is why we need more help"

Aoi stared at Yusaku, showing her despair and the guilt she carried at having to ask him for help in this way, after everything Yusaku did for them already. She knew that she would never have enough days to thank him or make it up to him.

She couldn't do anything on her own. Not defeating Bowman, saving Aqua, Miyu or her brother, she couldn't get Ai to return. How was she going to make up for everything Yusaku did for her and everyone? Not only was she not making up for him, but she was reaching out to ask him for more favors. Thinking of this, her cheeks flushed and she shifted his gaze to bring it to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't ask you for anything, after you've helped us so much."

Yusaku didn't stop looking at her, the way her shoulders slumped and her eyes sparkled with helplessness and uncertainty, denoting the shame that developed when she looked into his eyes. The emerald-eyed one was sure that Aoi had to go around too long to finally decide to come here and ask for his help.

That was enough to make a decision.

"I will do it"

Aoi was startled, her eyes wide, looked back at the boy who didn't abandon his determination. "Really? I mean, you don't have to. I mean, I know I came here and told you all this, but I'm already regretting it and …"

"It'll be a good distraction," he interrupted her babbling.

However, he preferred not to have said that.

"Are you saying it for Ai?"

Yusaku said nothing, just swallowed heavily, letting the whistle of the wind fill the silence. Aoi decided to insist.

"Is it true that you yelled Ai's name in class?" She asked with concern. Noticing the other's confused expression, she added, "Shima kept saying that you had made a conmotion by yelling 'Ai' at Fujimoto-kun's presentation"

The boy shuddered "I was dozing and got confused, nothing else"

Aoi pursed her lips, taking a few steps forward, as if getting closer to Yusaku meant being able to read his thoughts better "If you need to talk, you know you can …"

"Oofff! I've been looking everywhere for you, Yusaku-chan!"

The same person who interrupted them before, came here throwing himself at Yusaku to hug him with too much confidence, wrapping his arms around his neck. This caused Aoi to take a few steps back, looking at the scene in surprise.

Yusaku wore a curious expression of annoyance, which made Aoi relax despite the interruption.

Daisuke pulled away to see them both, without letting go of the emerald-eyed one "Oh my! I didn't know you were one of those who hung out with his girl on the roof, you perv~"

"Shut up"

"How rude! Did I offend you?!" He pretended to cry.

Aoi cocked her head, the scene they both starred in was slightly familiar, but she tried not to dwell on it too much "I'd better go back to class. You guys should do the same.” she gave Yusaku one last look before getting inside.

Daisuke leaned in, burying his face between Yusaku's neck and shoulder, who was quite uncomfortable and was trying not to show it. He tried to ignore how the exchange of words between him and Daisuke felt so natural and nostalgic and he wondered why the boy was suddenly taking this behaviour.

Maybe he was just like that. An outgoing boy.

Ai had been following Aoi and Yusaku, staying inside listening to their entire conversation. He didn't know why he didn't have the urge to interrupt when they were talking about the robbery and stop Yusaku from investigating it, the last thing he needed was for Yusaku to find out, but there was an intense desire inside him that was looking for that to happen.

When had Aoi and Yusaku become so close? If they weren't, they hid it very well.

It bothered him that the girl spoke to him with such confidence, that she made jokes and that Yusaku didn't show his usual coldness, he allowed her to get closer as she had done a few minutes ago. Why?

Still, Ai tried to hold on to the idea that the distraction the emerald-eyed boy was looking for and the call to his name at the beginning of class that day were demonstrations that Yusaku missed him or, at least, thought about him.

Yusaku wasn't like the others. Yusaku didn't forget.

Without realizing it, he hugged Yusaku tighter, inhaling the sweet scent of his skin.

Having this SOLtis body, he could enjoy human warmth — Yusaku's warmth — and detect the smell that emanated so that he could save the memory of his scent. Now that he had this possibility, he wanted to feel more of Yusaku.

Sometimes, he tried to eliminate such thoughts as he considered it a betrayal to his family.

"Yusaku…" he unconsciously whispered, beginning to feel the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Mhm?"

Yusaku tried to stay calm and allow Daisuke to hug him. It was strange to say that he felt he needed him and so he gave him the space to hold on to where he wanted. If Daisuke needed to hold him to calm whatever he was feeling, he would let him.

Although he wasn't sure why. Perhaps to make up for what he had done last night, because maybe tomorrow wouldn't give him a place in his life. For the good of both.

"Yusaku," Ai repeated, hugging him even more, sticking their bodies together in a very uncomfortable way, making Yusaku feel the heaviness of the other and seek to accommodate himself to tolerate it.

However, because of this, he tripped and fell to the ground, hitting his head painfully against the railing. The metallic noise of the impact echoed along with the sound of the box crushing.

Ai fell on top of Yusaku, without moving too much, he just shifted his arms. They were now under Yusaku's arms, his hands resting on his slim back.

"Dai ... Daisuke …"

Yusaku rested his own hands on the boy on top of him to be able to remove him but stopped in the act when he heard a sob.

Daisuke was crying.

Then, he dropped his hands on him, struggling to give him some comfort.

It was probably his fault that Daisuke was crying now, so it was time to utter those much needed apologies.

He swallowed heavily, wetting his lips as he realized they were dry. His heart was pounding, Daisuke's sadness was intensely contagious, which made his guilt feel heavier than Daisuke's body.

"I'm sorry," Yusaku said, unable to stop Daisuke's tears.

Daisuke took a minute or two to look up, not caring about the short distance between their faces.

"W-why?"

"Last night. I was an idiot"

It was magical, how those simple words changed Daisuke's painful expression for a funnier one, as if the confession was hilarious, although he was slightly holding his laugh, and Yusaku couldn't help but consider him …

…cute.

Still, he put those thoughts to himself and frowned. "What's so funny?"

"You finally admitted you're an idiot."

That phrase conveyed a strong melancholic feeling. For an instant, Yusaku thought that he and Daisuke had known each other for a long time, as Daisuke spoke to him and smiled as if he did.

Neither said anything after that, until the silence fell and it was too much for both of them, that Ai shifted his gaze to the crushed box on the side of Yusaku's thigh.

"You didn't open your gift," he pointed out.

Yusaku blinked in confusion, not knowing what he meant, waiting to see Daisuke with the box in hand, barely straightening up.

The golden-eyed one began to open it, undoing the damaged packaging to reveal somewhat misshapen but colorful desserts. The green, red, yellow, orange, blue and purple could be seen in the small box, although Yusaku could not define the shape, it seemed that before it had been an attempt at a flower or perhaps a fish, or a drop of something.

"They call it wagashi, it's a very …"

"I know what it is," Yusaku sighed.

Daisuke laughed "I just thought you only knew about hotdogs"

Well, now Yusaku felt like he had apologized too soon.

The dark-haired boy put the sweet purple to his lips, a smirk decorated his face "Say 'ahhh ~'"

Immediately, Yusaku took the candy to hold it between his own fingers as he glared at the other boy. "I can taste it on my own."

Without further ado, he brought the dessert to his mouth, ignoring the intense gaze Daisuke was giving him.

Yes, Yusaku knew wagashi but had never tasted one. They were too sweet, commonly used for ceremonies and attracting tourists, usually accompanied with a cup of bitter tea to counteract. You had to appreciate the particular way they wore, maybe someone eccentric like Daisuke was looking to give something aesthetic, and it could have turned out well if he had not thrown him on the ground.

He was not used to sweets, he was not a fan of desserts, but that did not mean that he did not like them. A grimace was drawn on his face, his cheeks were stained a soft red while his eyes shone in response to Daisuke's expectation, who saw and appreciated every expression that Yusaku showed when tasting the sweet.

Ai had never seen Yusaku and thought carefully about how cute he could be. There were nights when he even murmured it in his head as he watched him sleep, but these expressions were new and therefore felt strange. Although it also aroused feelings that he believed didn't exist.

He forgot for an instant that the human he was seeing was the determined Playmaker and whose consciousness he had to steal.

"Well?" Ai asked.

"Too sweet"

"I knew that you would like it! Now try another!” he handed him the reddish sweet.

Yusaku grabbed his wrist to stop him "I won't eat all of them now, unable to drink anything"

"Do you want tea? We can find tea"

Ai lifted Yusaku, taking advantage of the grip. It was difficult for the emerald-eyed boy to keep his grip considering that the hit on his head had made him dizzy and his legs crampled from holding Daisuke's weight.

"We have to go back to class," Yusaku recalled as if he really cared about his school attendance. Daisuke took his hand, seeking to entwine their fingers, making Yusaku feel a little uneasy.

"I know! It will be so much fun playing hooky with you!” Daisuke replied enthusiastically, almost dragging Yusaku into the establishment.

Yusaku tensed, frowning. "Playing what?"

"I'm not going to take 'no' for an answer. Your apologies were very nondescript, so you'll have to make up for it by spending all day with me"

Actually, Yusaku didn't think to refuse, he didn't mind going back to classes or not.

However, it was weird that someone he had just met, decided to drag him into such acts. It was even weirder that he accepted it too easily.

He could blame the headache or the latent feeling that he was dealing with some kind of Ai in human form, who used his hands to drag him wherever he wanted and chose a convenient height and weight to have more strength than him. Yusaku didn't consider that he was meeting someone new, quirky, and troublesome.

He didn't care about that, and Ai knew it too well.


	4. Human despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living as a human, fearing loneliness. Ai discovers the despair that loss means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, really thank you guys for your feedback! Sorry I couldn't update yesterday, I had some issues writing this chapter. But I'm glad I didn't took so long.

Being able to hold hands with Yusaku was something he didn't know he liked doing so much. When he had his original body, he always took the opportunity to touch him, sometimes it was a simple inevitable reaction. Now that his size somewhat matched that of humans, he took every moment to take him; pull or hug him. The sensations it brought to his body were different and more addictive. Ai didn't want to miss a second of Yusaku.

The excuse was perfect, spending the whole day with him to make up for something that Ai had not been affected by. He didn't want to manipulate Yusaku, but he knew how difficult it could be to convince him tomorrow to even speak to him, considering that they were practically two strangers. Also, he was not thinking clearly, he just jumped into the plan and sank at the idea of being with Yusaku before the inevitable, and more than anything, taking him away from the rest of the people, so that he would not forget him; he would not get ahead with that forgetfulness.

"First, we should take off these uniforms, don't you think, Yusaku-chan?" He asked without waiting for Yusaku to answer. "Look! There is a store there! We will buy nice things for us~"

Yusaku pulled on Daisuke's hand, forcing Daisuke to stop his hurried and excited steps. Daisuke turned to look at him, innocent confusion decorating his face.

Ai cocked his head. "You don't like that store?"

Yusaku was tense, he fixed his eyes on the gold ones, hoping not to have to explain the reason for his rejection, but he was forced to use a good excuse. "Get into a clothing store with a school uniform is quite riskful," he uttered too stiffly.

Daisuke put a hand to his chin thoughtfully "I guess you're right. It is not a good idea"

Ai knew that Yusaku's main problem didn't was getting attention with the uniforms, but the amount of noise and people that would surround them in a store. Yusaku couldn't bear unnecessary crowds, and he always did his best to stay away from them. Of course, someone like Yusaku would not say that so openly to someone he had just met, he would hardly say it to Kusanagi or Takeru. The Ignis thought about this when he pulled his arm to force him to go to the first clothing store he saw, hoping to force Yusaku's nerves to act and refuse with some excuse. Well, that meant that the aftermath of his trauma persisted, there were still things that Yusaku couldn't do with other people.

There was something inside him that pricked him painfully, reminding him how horrible it was to manipulate someone's traumas so they wouldn't walk away. The same Ai who, risking his life to beat Bowman, reminded his partner of the strength of the bonds he had builded, as if it were something important that he should never forget. However, a part of him began to reject that speech and try to take Yusaku for himself, unable to accept that he builded bonds with other people while that meant breaking the bonds that the both had.

He wasn't sure where that cruel and selfish personality was coming from that disturbed him so much, but he wasn't doing anything to change it either.

"Ah, but thank goodness I brought supplies," Daisuke began taking out a couple of clothes from his backpack and handed them to Yusaku, who, confused, stared at them.

It was a joke? Was the only thing Daisuke had in his backpack was clothes?

Yusaku raised an eyebrow, voicing all those questions.

Daisuke shook the air with his hand, a smile decorating his face. "I know, I know. You don't have to say it. I am a genius"

"Where do you expect me to change?"

Yusaku stretched the garment to see it better, it was a black silk shirt without collar and a neckline with a 'V' cut, it wore long sleeves to the elbows, but wide, which meant that the wind was accessible and he wouldn't be saved from the cold . It didn't seem comfortable, however, it was better than walking around with the uniform and finding out that they escaped.

Daisuke touched his chin with his finger "Can we go to your house? Or will your parents be angry to see you holding hands with a boy?" He playfully said, winking his eye. From Yusaku's expression, he knew that he hadn't liked that comment enough, Ai felt slightly guilty.

"I live alone," he answered curtly, passing Daisuke, brushing his shoulders and again feeling an electrifying shock.

His amused and playful expression faded just when Yusaku was turning his back on him. Every second he pressed on the weak points of his origin, his chest creaked as if something inside him was breaking little by little, that forced him to stop for a few moments, but after forgetting the sensation he was tempted to provoke it again. He didn't know why he considered making Yusaku suffer as a good strategy, even though he was aware of his cruelty.

Stepping on Yusaku's apartment again made him feel safe and uncomfortable at the same time, he could hear the scolding of his own family blowing in his ear as he wished to lie on Yusaku's bed, return to Yusaku's duel disk, or stay forever in Yusaku's place. He wanted to give up all this charade and be with Yusaku as he had always wanted, but he also needed his family back.

"Oh! It's pretty dirty in here, isn't it?" Daisuke commented, descending the stairs that led to Yusaku's room.

Of course it would be dirty, if Roboppi could no longer be active there, and he will probably never return to clean this place. He wondered if that hurt Yusaku in any way, probably Roboppi's inactive body was stuck in some corner having the same dust as his furniture.

In a way, he was right. He looked at Roboppi's old body off and nestled in a corner, but when he gently ran his hand, he found no sign of dust. Yusaku didn't even touch the broom to lift dirt off the floor, but he probably took a cloth every day to clean Roboppi, even if they were no longer useful. Thinking about this, Ai glanced at the emerald-eyed one with a strange feeling of nostalgia, which quickly vanished as soon as Yusaku was undressing shamelessly.

"Look at you undressing in front of a guest," Daisuke said smirking.

Yusaku just turned to look at him, too concentrated taking off his pants, already without his shirt on "It's nothing you haven't seen before"

Ai didn't quite understand the issue of human shame, but he understood that dressing in front of strangers was not something that came naturally, and Yusaku was doing it as if he were completely alone. It wasn't the first time he'd seen him do it, that was true. Yusaku was never ashamed of Ai watching him dress from the dueling disk, because his presence was sometimes unimportant to the emerald-eyed boy. However, he supposed that Yusaku's answer was not going that way.

Also, Yusaku felt a strange confidence towards Daisuke, since the feeling remained that they had known each other for more than a week. There was something unusual about Daisuke that allowed him to feel safe and, at the same time, uneasy about his intentions, because he carried that smile that didn't express any thought.

"Well then, it won't bother you if I do the same," the golden-eyed one began to say as he took off his uniform jacket.

"Not at all," Yusaku muttered, biting his lip. It shouldn't bother him, but …

… His heart began to beat fast. Perhaps because he remembered the scar on Daisuke's neck, and the way he exposed it. He decided not to turn around and focus on dressing with the clothes Daisuke threw at him.

He started with the jeans that were a bit tight. Was this Daisuke's clothes or had he conveniently bought clothes in his size? Well, the shirt wasn't too big for him either, and Daisuke's torso was at least a little wider than his, since the boy was also taller.

Still, it was baggy, but because the design was like that. It was made to fly in the breeze, and his neckline would show off his collarbone.

Already dressed, he turned carefully to face Daisuke with his back turned to him. He still had to button his shirt, so he came to observe that not only the skin of his face was devoid of any imperfections but also his back. He didn't stop looking at him, even as Daisuke was already turning to look back at him. An amused smile decorated his face, even so, Yusaku noticed a trace of melancholy.

"Why are you looking at me so much? Are you falling in love?" He teased

Yusaku frowned and looked elsewhere "Not at all"

No. There was an attraction, but it wasn't about love.

Daisuke didn't erase his smile, he changed any trace of joke for a softer expression. Now the melancholy was showing in its entirety, the way Daisuke looked at him left Yusaku stunned.

"It looks good on you," he commented in a surprisingly calm tone, approaching Yusaku until their feet faced each other, he put his hands on the laces that served to close a part of the neckline. "But let me fix this."

Yusaku dared to look up and lose himself in the gold of his eyes, as if their shine meant something to him. There were feelings, thoughts, an identity that Yusaku did not reach, but felt that he knew perfectly. Accepting to spend the whole day with Daisuke was a serious mistake, and Ai agreed with that sentiment when he realized that he was bringing his lips to Yusaku's.

He walked away before they touched.

"Ah! I'm a little thirsty, how rude of you not to make tea for your guests, Yusaku-chan!"

Yusaku blinked, not recognizing if what happened was real or part of his imagination. He was sure that his heart would not stop pounding. There was an intense connection between him and Daisuke, as if they were destined to meet.

He just sighed, heading for the stairs to go to the kitchen. "You invited yourself, anyway," Yusaku answered.

Ai waited for Yusaku to disappear before he finished putting on his clothes and regretting what he was about to do. How many days had he been with Yusaku in this body and now he already could no longer resist kissing him? He hadn't, but it was close to happening. So what? Not only would he spoil everything, but he would betray the real reason he was here.

He needed that card. Firewall Dragon Darkfluid.

As soon as he had his shirt on, he checked once more that Yusaku was not coming back so he could go to his desk and open one of the drawers, in search of the real Playmaker's deck. He could access his duel disk that was kept in the same drawer, but that would mean logging his data there again, plus, his SOLtis would remain inactive, and he wasn't sure how long it would take Yusaku to return.

He took the deck out of the drawer and started going through the cards. The appearance of "Panther Warrior" confirmed that he was not seeing Playmaker's cards, even so, he persisted and kept passing the cards one by one.

"What are you doing?"

Yusaku's sudden voice watching him from the floor above caused him to drop all the cards to the ground. He didn't have an excuse ready for this!

"I'm sorry! Sorry! I-I saw that you also had one and, I mean, I play too! I already told you?" He sputtered

Yusaku arched an eyebrow, leaning against the railing "No. You also didn't tell me that you were in the habit of checking other people's stuff"

"I don't have it," he answered too quickly. "Not always," he corrected himself. "Only with you," Daisuke smiled awkwardly.

The emerald eyes stared at him with such intensity that he thought he was reading every part of his code, until he heard Yusaku sigh and resign himself to returning to the kitchen.

Ai sighed too, in relief perhaps. Yusaku was not going to invite a stranger knowing that he had left his Playmaker identity exposed, he was not stupid and Ai must have anticipated that.

He picked up the cards on the floor and just sat on the bed, waiting for Yusaku to come back, forgetting what happened.

He had to get to Darkfluid somehow, since if he didn't, he would be forced to take Yusaku's consciousness to confirm that Lightning was telling him the truth.

~ • ~

The tea was forgotten as soon as he brought it on a tray. Daisuke jumped up with the idea that they should go buy something to eat because he was 'starving', so he got up and dragged Yusaku out of the apartment, letting the tea cool in the absence of people who could drink it.

They headed out into the square, clearly looking for Café Nagi, but Kusanagi's truck was nowhere parked and Daisuke looked puzzled. Yusaku knew why, he wasn't going to go into details, in fact, he wasn't going to give any explanation.

The eyed one sat frustrated on one of the benches, folding his arms and snorting like a pouting little boy "Where did the HotDogs man go?"

"It's not like he lives in the truck," Yusaku replied sarcastically as he sat next to him. "Maybe today he decided to work later."

The conversation led them nowhere, so they started a silence that they both endured and thanked as they plunged into their own thoughts, however, the only thing that occupied Yusaku's mind was the last winter breeze that was beginning to shake the trees and his own shirt that was made for spring days. A chill ran through his body and his nose began to itch, causing him to inevitably sneeze, covering his mouth without making a sharp sound. In fact, it sounded like a hiss, drawing Daisuke's attention.

“Are you cold?”

Yusaku glanced at him, furrowing his brow as if his question was too obvious. Although the fault wasn’t Daisuke’s choice regarding clothing, but his distraction that made him not put on a coat before leaving his apartment, but Daisuke was so anxious to get out that he barely had time to react because they were already walking through the door of his residence.

Also, a doubt came to his mind and Yusaku wondered why he didn't say it as soon as he had put the shirt on. Maybe because he was too focused on Daisuke's lips getting closer to his that he forgot about that great little detail.

"This shirt is baggy but appears to be my size. Clearly you didn't buy it for yourself, did you?” he observed.

Daisuke was silent.

'You had this planned, it wasn’t a spontaneous idea”

"Yeah, let's just say I had it planned in advance, but I didn't know I was going to get the chance on a silver platter"

Daisuke showed an awkward smile, apologizing with a playful tone that again brought back to Yusaku the memories he had of Ai.

Daisuke wasn’t Ai, but if the AIs died and reincarnated, Daisuke could be a perfect reincarnation of him. Still, thankfully, it wasn’t because Ai wasn't dead. Yusaku wanted to be sure of that.

Ai and Roboppi were together somewhere on the net, Yusaku clung to that hope. He cleaned Roboppi's body every day hoping that at some point their little lights that represented their eyes would light up and they would greet him with the same enthusiasm as ever. Just as he looked at his duel disk on his desk yearning to wake up with Ai's little head coming out of the orb and watching him waking up.

His apartment without them was starting to feel pretty empty and lonely. That loneliness sometimes intensified with Daisuke, and at the same time, it calmed him. He hated having to use Daisuke's presence as a consolation for Ai's absence, but his heart carried it as the only valid solution. Also, he had to get used to staying away from his presence tomorrow.

"The end of the world is coming! The bank is empty! The AIs will dominate humanity and we will be consumed by our greed! I know it! I saw it! It was not a dream! It was a prediction!”

A homeless man stopped Yusaku’s musings, shouting as he strolled through the almost empty square. His clothes were disheveled, his hair was messy, he appeared to be an unemployed businessman because his suit was torn and dirty , and his shoes were missing. A bottle of alcohol hung from his hand.

Yusaku was not nervous about his presence, it was something common to see, especially now that the whole thing was happening that many people lost their savings with the central bank robbery, but looking at Daisuke he could notice an expression of shock and horror like he had never seen anything like this before.

“A blackout! All the lights in the city will burn out! The SOLtis will go crazy! A storm will sweep away our belongings, just as lies swept away the love of my family!” The man continued shouting, approaching the two young boys sitting on the bench. Yusaku could smell the sake spilling from his breath. "You… You, no, you," he pointed at Daisuke. "I lost my family, my job, my home… Be careful, boy, okay?"

Yusaku tensed when he saw that the man hugged Daisuke, who seemed to be quite paralyzed “We will all lose the same. You too”

Ai swallowed heavy. He hadn't seen this part of humans.

The emerald-eyed boy had no intention of giving much importance to the drunk man but seeing that Daisuke looked like he was going to collapse at any moment, he dared to intervene and try to get the man away from him. "We got the message. Now, we need to leave” Yusaku said firmly.

The man released Daisuke, but didn't move from his spot, instead his eyes fell on Yusaku. It seemed that he wanted to say something to him, or that he felt mad at him for some reason, the expression on his face was unpredictable, Yusaku could not see anything in man's bloodshot eyes. It was like forever, but it was only a minute or two before the man sighed and turned to leave, shouting the same thing from a while ago.

As soon as they were alone again, Yusaku approached Daisuke with concern. "Are you okay?"

Daisuke moved his lips, said something inaudible until he repeated it and Yusaku could hear him better "Is that true?"

Yusaku cocked his head.

"Are the humans suffering?"

The emerald eyed one blinked. Daisuke spoke of humanity as if he didn’t belong to it, he discovered the situation as if he came from another world. Perhaps it was the first thing he could ask when he found himself so stunned; it was probably something he didn’t see in the city he came from.

Yusaku tried not to think about it too much.

“The bank robbery caused many to lose their savings or not be able to receive their due payments. Surely all their plans were ruined, and they will end up accumulating debt. SOL Technologies promised to pay a compensation, but since they are not supposedly responsible for the theft, they are under no obligation to do so”

“What does that mean?”

“That the city would be on the verge of falling into a downfall, it would be difficult to recover, in addition, many people here fell into a great fear”

Ai put a hand to his chest, again the pain began to pierce his chest and the urge to end this whole game became more intense. Did he made so much damage to the city by trying to create an identity? The robbery was Lightning's idea, and he had stupidly accepted it, thinking that that way he could perform all kinds of performances without any limits. Why did he need so much money anyway? Why should he steal the belongings of many people who probably needed it more than he did?

He had no idea of the importance of money and Lightning insisted on the greed that consumed humanity for its existence. That is why he didn’t come to think that it could cause greater damage.

Should he return the money?

"Daisuke ...”

Yusaku's voice killed his desperate thoughts and forced him to look into those emerald eyes that were shining with concern.

“Is something wrong?”

Suddenly, it was as if he needed to breathe. He had forgotten how to do it.

Should he tell Yusaku the truth?

"Yusaku…" he started to say, tensing the boy who was patiently waiting for his words.

He didn't know how to start; he didn't know what to say.

Yusaku was curious by what he could hear, although it seemed that Daisuke needed time or a little push, the most he could offer was his patience and he thought that the golden-eyed one was finally going to get to the point , when suddenly he felt that Daisuke brought another sweet to his mouth, forcing him to chew it like that moment on the school. As he tasted the yellowish sweet, he didn't know whether to feel annoyed or even more confused.

Ai forced an amused smile.

"You haven't finished them yet."

Yusaku grunted as he tasted the candy.

Ai continued to consider this plan to spend the day with Yusaku as a bad idea. He organized three possibilities in his mind of the reason of his existence in this world.

First, he had to find Darkfluid and analyze its data

Second, tell Yusaku the truth

Or third, steal his consciousness.

And he was unable to do any of the three.

~ • ~

Yusaku noticed the restlessness in his partner and tried to dissipate the tension that had been caused in the square by taking Daisuke to a dinner for lunch, although the sky was already turning pink by sunset. Yusaku could see through his fake smiles and awkward comments, seeking to act to hide the true anguish that imprisoned Daisuke's heart. He had no idea about his past and why he was affected more than the rest by the despair of society over the recent problems that were happening. However, Yusaku was not going to turn his back on him, even though he did not know him well or have any obligation with him. He saw Daisuke as a lonely person, and he would not forgive himself for abandoning him in that situation.

They arrived at a simple, small dinner and the closest to the square, they sat near a window, being able to see how the sky was changing color to reach the darkness of the night.

A young waitress, perhaps about nineteen years old, approached them in order to take their orders. Her brown hair was tied in a bun that allowed her to show her pretty face, her thick eyelashes that highlighted her dark eyes and her slightly full lips that crossed a kind smile. Daisuke looked up at her, resting his chin on his hand, imitating a sly smile as he sought with his golden eyes to attract another type of attention to the waitress.

Yusaku knew immediately that Daisuke was in a better mood.

"Why don't we forget about the food here and I invite you to dinner at a better restaurant?" Daisuke teased turning to the waitress, who couldn't help looking away from Yusaku while blushing.

"Wouldn't that offend your guest?" The girl muttered shyly .

Yusaku pretended to be distracted by the window. If Daisuke preferred to replace him with that girl, well, he would let him be happy that way.

"I could invite him too, but I don't think girls are for him," Daisuke whispered, even knowing that Yusaku was listening. The only thing that got was a slight sigh from him “Ah! Sorry, you have such beautiful lips that I would like to kiss them, you know?”

That comment surprised both the girl and Yusaku, causing both to look at him as if he were a pervert. And it was that he easily sounded like one.

Before the girl decided to run away, Yusaku intervened “Don't worry, he's always like this. We're just going to order a green tea and some miso soup”

The girl nodded nervously and just answered the order. Although Yusaku felt a little sorry for her because he knew that it would be difficult for her to return to that table.

"Oh, who told you I liked miso soup?"

In fact, Ai had never tasted that soup, so he had no idea what it was about.

“I say so. And I don't want to hear you say anything to that waitress, you can't just flirt with any girl you see,” Yusaku scolded.

Daisuke used the same look he had used on the waitress, but with Yusaku “Oh, so you got jealous. I thought you only had eyes for Aoi-chan” he hummed, although inside that thought was tearing him apart, he needed to confirm that Aoi was nothing to Yusaku.

Yusaku raised an eyebrow, and just sighed.

It wasn't the answer Ai expected, but it was typical of Yusaku.

After eating, they returned to Yusaku's apartment to retrieve their uniforms, or rather, for Daisuke to take his uniform and go back to his own apartment. They changed in the room of the emerald-eyed one, the two turning their backs like the first time they changed their clothes, this time there was no thought that occupied their minds but the fact that the day was already ending, each one would go on their own road.

Yusaku could already forget about Daisuke; Ai had to find another way to approach Yusaku as soon as he went through the apartment door to leave.

Yusaku dressed in a dark long-sleeved shirt and his own jeans, perfectly folding the clothes that Daisuke had lent him, ready to return them. Daisuke was already dressed in his school uniform.

There was no other excuse to stay in that place.

“Take it”

Yusaku handed the clothes to Daisuke, but he didn’t accept them.

"Hey, they're not even my size. I bought them for you, you can keep them”

"They're not my style," the boy muttered. However, he did not know if he really had a style, even so, he decided not to insist too much and kept the clothes. He was tired and just wanted to flop onto the bed to sleep.

He had almost done it, he just sat on the bed, resisting the urge to lie down fully.

"I suppose you can leave now," Yusaku said.

Ai pursed his lips for an instant before changing his expression to a smile. "So early?" He tried to sound relaxed, however, his voice betrayed him to a more discouraged tone.

"Unless there is something else you want to do, I think you'd better go home."

Yusaku didn't want to sound rude, or to seem like he was kicking him out, but he really needed to sleep, for some reason being with Daisuke meant a lot of emotional effort. Perhaps it was that Daisuke was almost an exact copy of his Ignis and that was difficult for him to tolerate.

"Ah, I know what's up," Daisuke began, pacing around Yusaku's bed to sit next to him. "You're jealous because I flirted with that waitress."

There was a minute or two of silence, both of them staring at each other until Yusaku cocked his head in confusion.

“It's very obvious! Who wouldn’t kiss these so attractive lips?” He passed his fingers over his own lips, approaching Yusaku's face, trying to bother him and failing in the attempt.

Yusaku put his hand on his face . Daisuke grunted and took the other hand that sought to push him away, his intention was not to pull him close, but the connection that intensified in their bodies began to act and he could not avoid leaning towards him.

Ai knew it was the Link Sense, and he couldn't stop himself. Yusaku couldn't read his intentions and just thought he was playing with him by looking at him so closely.

Impatient and frustrated, Yusaku frowned, "Daisuke, I think you should ...”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence when he already had Daisuke's lips on his, kissing them with a warmth and tenderness that embraced his heart. If rubbing shoulders with him, looking into his eyes, or hearing his voice passing through his ears meant an outbreak of uncontrollable emotions, that his lips were united with his own was something that disconnected him from reality. Even…

… he even forgot that he was kissing Daisuke. Closing his eyes, he could only think of Ai.

If Ai were a human ...

If Ai were with him.

_“Ai ...”_

That name was repeated in his mind as he let himself be carried away by that kiss, wrapping his arms around the neck of the other and clumsily deepening the kiss.

Ai was surprised by his answer, but he didn’t stop, he wasn’t even disturbed by the guilt that accumulated in his throat due to the betrayal that this action meant. What would his family think when they saw him kiss a human? That human should be without his consciousness, not loving him.

No, that Yusaku responded to the kiss didn't mean that he loved him, did he?

What did kissing mean to a human?

He needed Lightning, even though he would scold him, he needed to hear him remark about it.

Even if he lied to him.

Suddenly, it wasn’t only Yusaku's feelings that mixed with his own when kissing him, bringing his hand to his neck and stroking his hair, he felt a familiar presence that was not about Yusaku specifically, but rather a bunch of voices from different tonalities, as if in the mind of the emerald-eyed boy there were other people existing.

Those other people: those presences were his family.

Lightning didn't lie. They were there.

Ai found a way to connect with Yusaku's consciousness without having to access his duel disk and aggressively access his mind. He parted Yusaku’s lips to insert his tongue and explore the depths of his mouth, looking for more of that presence, more of his family data.

Flame, Aqua, Earth, Windy ...

… Lightning.

He could hear them all.

In his desperation, he didn’t realize that he had pushed Yusaku, his weight crushing Yusaku’s thinness, Ai was invading his mouth in such a way that saliva began to drain from the corners, and the human seemed to be shaking at the difficulty that it meant breathing right now.

Yusaku wanted to speak, he was muffling something, but Ai wasn't listening.

Ai wanted to find them, wanted to get them out of there.

A kick to his stomach forced him back. In his attempt to hold onto Yusaku, he ripped off a part of his shirt, leaving a small scratch.

Yusaku was looking at him confused, agitated, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Ai straightened up, still on top of him, but his eyes pointed to his own hands.

“Leave”

It was the only thing Yusaku could say after catching some air. Ai reacted barely, but enough to disappear from sight of his origin, whose consciousness was about to be sucked into.

But Ai stopped before that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ai kissing Yusaku was meant to happen a few chapters next, but I decided to put this right at the end of this chapter. Now let's see what am I gonna do with this disaster.
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> You can follow me on:
> 
> Twitter: @CrimsonDreams4  
> Tumblr: xxxcrimsondreamsxxx


	5. Insatiable doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusaku doesn't want to see Daisuke. Ai doesn't want to see Yusaku. But Aoi wants to see both, and find out what's going on between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for make you waiting!! I announced my hiatus on tumblr if you didn't know. I was... I'm feeling so tired and ill it's getting difficult to write at time. Specially now that I have to focus on the uni.
> 
> Still, here's the new chapter!

Spilled tea dripped from the edges of his table, one of the cups tipped over as Daisuke stumbled to flee the room. Yusaku's heartbeat was kept agitated and alert by the footsteps that he heard from Daisuke climbing each step as he left, until he heard the slam of the door Yusaku did not allow himself to breathe. As soon as he was alone, he barely sighed, at least his heartbeat began to pick up its rhythm, but his lips throbbed painfully and were already drier than the first time Daisuke kissed him.

He didn't expected that kiss, he wasn't mad with Daisuke for joining his lips with his, that could be discussed, but the way in which he then intensified that union everything became suffocating, it seemed that he was losing his mind, not only Daisuke but himself. He felt as if Daisuke sucked all the energy out of him, that he now he couldn't even move without thinking twice; if he got up now, he might trip over his own feet and fall. He never bled, but if there was a way to compare that feeling, he would say it was as if he had lost a lot of blood.

He didn't think of another conclusion that Daisuke was going to sexually abuse him, but remembering the despair and horror on his face, he didn't know what to think of him, much less when Yusaku was still haunted by the fact that he had thought of Ai while he tasted his lips, he hugged him repeating that name.

Ai had no scent, no taste, no breath, but if he thought of Daisuke's scent clinging to his skin, the taste of his mouth and the way his warm breath mixed with his it was as if it were his Ignis . Daisuke was always related to Ai, and this was already reaching unhealthy limits. Yusaku knew that he had to stop thinking about him and how much his absence affected him to have compassion on someone who threw himself on top of him in his own bed and had just torn his clothes.

Well, just the collar of the shirt, and that happened because Yusaku pushed him, but Daisuke was being too violent, it was no longer as if he was trying to kiss him, but as if he was looking for his tongue to go down his throat and try to suck him.

Yusaku covered his mouth with his whole hand, breathing in the dust that enveloped his apartment, listening to his heart wanting to leave his chest and his eyes stinging from the temptation to shed tears that he was not going to release.

The day he spent with Daisuke was nice, despite the twists and turns, he felt that he was getting closer to him and for some reason, it was something he needed to do. Daisuke carried a bunch of thoughts that Yusaku found on his face and his golden gaze, but he was unable to read. He knew that there was something there to know, a past and an emotional charge that no one could hear.

Yusaku felt they were alike, not because of personality, but because of what they hid behind his facade. Yusaku kept an icy behaviour to keep his distance from others, and Daisuke approached others with a childish and cheerful one. Yet both bore the weight of anguish.

He sighed. It could all be part of his imagination, again. Thinking too much of Daisuke became an unpleasant habit, even more so now that this incident had happened. If it could be called that.

Tomorrow he should see him again, go to school, and probably tolerate him approaching him again to apologize. What would he answer him then? Yusaku swallowed heavily, preparing his coldness for that moment.

Daisuke was not Ai.

Daisuke was an ordinary boy.

He was a stranger. Someone he shouldn't trust.

That was repeated as he turned to look at the crumpled box of candy Daisuke had given him. It was at that moment that he decided to get out of bed with some difficulty just to take it, giving it one last look.

Red, green, blue and orange. The wagashi were not shaped properly because he had crushed them on the terrace. But what meaning were they supposed to have?

It mattered little to him when he dropped the box into the trash can, along with the clothes Daisuke had bought for him.

~°~

"Why didn't I stop? Why didn't you stop me?!"

Despair resounded in Ai's voice, echoing in the darkness that surrounded him again where he spoke with a small light that kept his eyes open and his mind awake. The memories of Yusaku's taste didn't disappear and the sound of his labored breathing, all that was torturing him seriously but a slight contentment filled him at having felt the data of the other Ignis.

He looked down at his own hands and a twisted smile decorated his face as tears fell from his eyes. "But at least I could touch them, I almost reached them"

"That's why I didn't stop you, you were about to absorb us," Lightning replied calmly.

Ai looked up at the warm light. "And what would happen then? If I absorb them, won't they die?"

"No, because you would be able to regenerate us"

Ai lowered his head, his hands clenched into a fist in his own lap, wishing the discomfort would go away. "I almost killed him," he whispered, hoping that Lightning wouldn't hear him, but it was impossible that his words were inaudible to the Light Ignis.

"There is no other way. Decide now, whether to leave us behind or help us regain our lives"

Ai clenched his own fists, closing his eyes with such force that it began to ache. "When did our lives matter to you, Lightning?! You made fun of us! You betrayed us!"

"But you don't," the light one continued with his characteristic serenity. Ai was silent, surprised "You loved us, like you love that human. You protected us no matter if you ended up dying trying. You were the most stupid and lazy Ignis of the Cyberse, but the only one capable of doing something to save us, even if you failed, now you have another chance"

The Dark Ignis couldn't decipher if there was honesty in the Light Ignis's words, but who was he to judge him? What possibility had he to find a solution to the disaster that the coexistence between humans and AIs meant?

Lightning tried, in the worst way, but he did.

"All of this wouldn't be happening if you hadn't declared war on the humans, you know, Lightning?" Ai said ironically, chuckling, rubbing his eye with dry tears.

"Sooner or later something would have happened to us, Ai, it's inevitable. You are seeing it with your own eyes: the madness of humanity. Although it is true, I will never be able to feel the same compassion as you, it is likely that I will eliminate us if you do nothing …"

The Dark Ignis was startled. "Can you do that?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out"

"Don't do it, Lightning! You said you would apologize! That you were sorry!"

"I am. But I can't stand living in this limbo, no one would stand it"

A certain exhaustion could be heard in the voice of the Light Ignis, Ai was refusing to believe him completely, even though there was no evidence that Lightning was lying to him, other than the sins of his past. "What about Flame, Aqua, Earth, Windy? What about them?"

"What about them, Ai?"

Ai clenched his fists, hitting the ground impatiently. "Tell me where they are! I want to hear them!"

There was a moment of silence that for Ai was eternal, until he heard the sigh of the Light Ignis and a disappointing answer: "I have already answered that request. Unless you get our back up, there's nothing we can do. It all depends on you, Ai, and what you feel is correct. I promise you I will not judge you"

"Lightning …"

Ai was mad at Lightning, even though he had long since stopped hating him. He was also his family; he loved him too.

"Although I'll be upset," Lightning added, Ai couldn't see him, but his voice was more expressive than before, he didn't hear traces of fury or hatred held back like last time, now he just seemed resigned. "However, I was also unable to kill my origin, I manipulated Windy to kill his, and my connection with Jin kept me from murdering him completely, I even took away his worst memories. And if I did that, then, you, who are the most …" he stopped for a moment, searching for the most appropriate word " ... sensitive, well, I admit that it is a difficult decision. Choose between us, your family and humans"

There he was again with that resentment. Ai felt a pressure on his chest that forced him to keep shedding several tears "There has to be another way, one in which we can all be at peace," Ai sobbed, covering his face.

After a minute or two, he stopped rubbing his hands over his damp face to blind himself with the light that gave him the necessary warmth in the cold darkness "There is. There is a solution"

"And that is...?"

Ai swallowed heavy. "I'll die with you. You said you could eliminate yourself along with the rest, just do it and I will eliminate myself. Then we'll be together forever” He smiled sadly.

Lightning was silent again, taking a long time to answer Ai's proposal, and again, he did not offer anything convincing.

"If that's what you want," he murmured.

Ai's smile faded, although it didn't represent any relief, his disappointment grew in such a way that it weighed like a stone on his back. Lightning was the only voice with which he could talk about this and feel that he would come to a reasonable solution despite the myriad betrayals he was risking. For some reason, he was less afraid of Lightning's lies than of telling Yusaku the truth.

"I don't want to do anything against your wishes, and I can't listen to the wishes of the others. Lightning, what do  _ you _ want?"

He could hear a small laugh that sounded like an exhausted sigh. "If I share my wishes, will you carry them?"

"Yes, Lightning! I will do it!" He answered without hesitation, however, as soon as he finished saying it, he was not very sure.

"I want to live, and if I can't, I want  _ you _ to live for  _ us _ ."

That was hard to fulfill, but Ai would do it, because Lightning's wishes could be the other Ignis's as well. Even if it meant living with the weight of ending a life; the life of whom he loved the most.

Before having to come to that, he preferred to seek other solutions.

He must take Darkfluid.

~°~

It was difficult for Aoi to sleep with everything that was happening, she got up too tired, but she walked to the school attentive in case she found Yusaku or Daisuke. She was worried that Yusaku hadn't returned to school yesterday since they met Daisuke on the terrace. Have they escaped? No, that was not typical of Yusaku. She was drilling her head all night and continued in the morning until she reached the entrance and ran into Shima.

"Shima-kun, did you see Fujiki-kun?" the girl asked. She was surprised by the fact that Daisuke was not with Shima as usual.

"No, I didn't see Fujimoto either, but ..." the boy approached the brunette to whisper in her ear, as if he was about to gossip, "... they say he and Fujiki escaped together yesterday"

Aoi's eyes widened, she thought about it for an instant, she tried to imagine it in her mind and a giggle escaped her lips, causing Shima to recede "Fujiki-kun wouldn't do that, much less with someone like …"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence, remembering what she had conversed with Yusaku and the interaction between him and Daisuke on the roof. The way the emerald-eyed one allowed the boy to hug him and just shut him up like it was normal. She had seen that interaction before, vaguely, but …

She… she felt he reminded her of Ai. It was no coincidence that Yusaku got confused while he dozed, and he had never allowed anyone, not even her, to get close to him like that. Not to mention that he allowed Daisuke to go out to dinner with him after school, of course he would let someone as extroverted as Daisuke drag him out to play hooky.

Maybe that's what happened. Perhaps Yusaku clung to the idea that Daisuke was similar to Ai, and he spent time with him so as not to miss him. Would Yusaku do something like that? How far would his emotions go?

She didn't even know how Yusaku expressed his pain or his joy. Any theory was possible.

"I also heard they were seen together the other night in front of a very fancy restaurant. If neither of them is in class, I'll start to suspect that they're up to something weird. They probably joined a gang!" Shima exclaimed. Aoi drew the image of Yusaku with a bat in hand and Daisuke wearing a spiked knuckle in his hand, it was so ridiculous that she resisted another giggle and rolled her eyes at him, continuing on her way to school.

Maybe, Yusaku just made a friend. A rather peculiar one. Although, she would talk to the emerald-eyed boy if she had the chance, or the right to ask and know. It wasn't like she was his friend, or anything, she was hardly lucky to get a word out of the boy.

She had thought of going to look for him during lunch, but when she got to the classroom she received an upset reaction from Shima telling her that neither Yusaku nor Daisuke had attended classes. Could it be that they escaped seriously? Or maybe Daisuke did something to Yusaku?

Yes, it sounded a bit strange, but not enough for her to jump to hasty conclusions. However, Shima was already planning to go visit Daisuke. Aoi at first insisted on refusing and when she was about to found an excuse for not accompanying Shima in his 'investigation', she thought that perhaps the situation would be convenient to know a little more about Daisuke, and find out how suspicious it could be his relationship with Yusaku.

After class, Aoi accompanied Shima, being surprised when they stopped in front of a tall building that appeared to be Daisuke's residence. Shima had started to hesitate as soon as he set foot in front of the entrance of the same building, with Aoi looking at the row of doorbells according to the corresponding floor and door, and next to the doorbells there was a small monitor that would probably show their faces as soon as Daisuke decides to attend.

Without hesitation, the girl rang the bell when Shima told her which floor the boy lived on.

~°~

When he finished talking to Lightning, Ai disconnected from the network, waking up on the bed in his room, or rather Daisuke's room. This place was just a temporary residence to keep the facade, actually, it didn't feel like home. However, Roboppi -who lived with him- was fascinated by the amount of objects and appliances that decorated the place, and not having to constantly clean them. There were elements that Roboppi didn't know about its existence until now, they had always dedicated themselve to cleaning the almost empty and poor apartment of their master, Yusaku, but this apartment was quite spacious, with its own cleaning service and even, a food service. Roboppi took care of cooking for the master, but now, they had people who cooked for them.

As soon as they knew about this, they jumped on the bed to celebrate with Ai, without having notion of the tide of emotions for which the Ignis was living.

Ai knew that Roboppi was ignorant about everything that was happening around him and the reason for their existence, they only knew that they had to pretend to be ordinary humans, that their name would not be Roboppi, and that they were there because they were supposedly his cousin, although Roboppi didn't quite know what that meant.

Roboppi also had a SOLtis body, and their free will was developing vaguely, the sympathetic, empathic functions and those that allowed them to reason when they should lie and how they should do it, still did not work very well, so Ai prohibited them from leaving the building . Well, Roboppi still had complications recognizing Yusaku as Yusaku and nothing else, and stopping calling him their 'master'. Not to mention that their voice still passed from the digitized one to which they should lead, that was a more human one.

They had to work on it, but Ai was too busy and at least Roboppi wasn't so pushy about getting out.

The doorbell rang out, slightly disturbing Ai, who had soon calmed down when Roboppi jumped from the bed to the floor and ran to the door to greet the boy who brought them the food they had asked for. He handed them to them on a silver and metal tray, with two thick plastic containers covered by a lid of the same material and wrapped in aluminum, without a thank you or a see you soon, Roboppi closed the door in the boy's face and returned to the bedroom to open the containers.

"What did you asked for?" Ai asked, feigning curiosity. He didn't really care much about them, but from time to time it was his responsibility to watch Roboppi's every action and motive.

With a smile from ear to ear, the little android extended the container that gave off a peculiar and recognizable smell for Ai's olfactory system.

"Miso soup!" Roboppi exclaimed excitedly. "At least, that's what it said on the menu," they murmured, taking a card with the list of food and drink they could order. Ai took it to check, ignoring the nostalgic scent that soup gave him. Well, that dish was the one he had tried for the first time, yesterday when he was out with Yusaku.

Forgetting what they did that day was his first goal.

"But there is a lot of food here, and miso soup is the cheapest," Ai pointed out, rubbing his chin. A smirk spread across his face, crushing the card on the mattress and staring at Roboppi. "If you're going to take advantage of the benefits of having humans at your service, why not do it in a big way?"

Roboppi blinked, opening their mouth slightly in amazement and showing a glow of expectation and admiration for the Ignis that kept teaching them new things.

Ai took the service phone, and took care of ordering everything that was in the card.

If he had the money to spend, well, he would spend it well.

Within minutes of placing the order, the doorbell rang loudly and surprised Ai more than anything, as Roboppi only thought humans were working too fast. However, it was not the order but a visit that Ai had not expected despite the number of missed calls he had from Shima. The first thing he did was keep calm, assume that it would not be Yusaku who could have cleverly tracked him down and came here to claim him for what happened earlier.

Of course, he was not going to attend school so as not to have to cross paths with Yusaku and relive the discomfort and guilt of what he had done, in addition to having to feel that pressure of meeting those eyes that he would turn off sooner or later. Avoiding Yusaku, for the moment, was the best he could do.

Without giving too much thought, he prepared to attend to whoever had come to visit, and surprisingly Aoi's face was on the monitor at his door. She was next to Shima.

He forced a smile and an unconcerned voice. "Ah! Who would say that such a beautiful girl would visit me! Could it be that you couldn't bear my absence?" he hummed, although for some reason, that girl made him pile up an unbearable poison in his throat that he didn't want to release by any means.

"Fujimoto-kun, we were… worried about you. Can we come in?"

Ai whimpered, covering his cheeks that were pretending to be blushing. "I'm just not presentable! And I'm so shy!"

Aoi rolled her eyes. "We don't care, we just came to see why you were absent and we brought you the notes from today's class. If you want to let us pass, do so. If you're not going to do it, then say so because… " The girl shuddered from the breeze. "It's very cold, you know?"

Ai pursed his lip, it was no problem letting them pass, but the reason why the girl was so insistent, was making him feel a bit uneasy. Still, he let them pass.

Aoi wasn't sure why she had insisted so much, it was probably her curiosity seeking to know what was happening between Yusaku and him, to clear up all the doubts that were beginning to worry her slightly. At the moment, there was nothing so suspicious that it would cause her to be seriously concerned, but she wanted to ask him about Yusaku personally and not from a monitor with the breeze brushing her bare legs along her skirt causing her to feel cold, unable to make her think clearly.

Before Aoi and Shima get to the apartment, Ai ordered Roboppi to lock themself in the closet and not come out or say anything until he told them. He was grateful that free will didn't take away the little robot's obedience.

Once everything was organized to receive them, Ai opened the door to the humans with a smile from ear to ear, showing himself dressed in slightly baggy pajamas and made of soft silky material. Shima went straight to greet him and shake him, filling him with nonsensical questions of why he had not attended and if he had joined a gang as rumors had it, while Aoi, serenely spent observing every corner of the apartment.

The place was very spacious, the entrance led to a hall with two doors, one of them should be a room and the other probably the bathroom, because if you kept walking straight down the hall, it led to the living room with a small table served with two bowls of soup, after that place, there were two more doors and Aoi's curiosity was going to drive her to open it without permission, however, Daisuke was ahead of her.

"In that door I sleep, and in the other my cousin sleeps," he commented kindly.

Aoi nodded, looking back at the doors that decorated the hallway. "And those over there?"

"Those will take you to the kitchen and the other to a bathroom. What's wrong?" The golden-eyed boy tilted his head, before approaching the girl, taking her by her chin and getting close enough to feel her tense breath. "Are you investigating me, Aoi-chan?"

Immediately, Aoi looked away, crossing her arms and trying not to show that she was blushing. "It's not like that. In fact, I came to …"

Before she could say anything else, the doorbell rang again and it seemed like Daisuke was waiting for someone else. For an instant, Aoi thought it was Yusaku, until she heard him say it was the food he had ordered.

When Daisuke opened the door, about three people were letting in three-story carts with various plates of food. They were all kinds of dishes that one could imagine and they gave off a tempting smell. "Good thing you came! Or I couldn't eat this by myself!" Daisuke exclaimed excitedly.

From the closet in the hallway, he heard a cheerful hum coming from the hidden Roboppi, and Ai just hit the door to shut him up, grateful that this didn't get much attention, as the humans were distracted by the amount of food that had arrived.

Daisuke walked towards them, smiling at them with hidden malice, whispering to them, "Enjoy yourselves"

~°~

Yusaku got out of the shower. The drops of water that fell from the ends of his hair fell on the towel wrapping his shoulders, his attention was diverted to the mirror. The reflection of him was covered by steam, he passed his hand to wipe a small part that allowed him to see his face for the first time that day. He flinched when he saw that there was a slight cut on his lip, he remembered the brief sensation of Daisuke's teeth pressing against his mouth.

He hadn't realized that this was going to have side effects until now. It was barely noticeable, it was a slight red mark that he didn't like to wear, even though it didn't even hurt enough. He ran his thumb across the cut, the pressure causing a twinge that forced him to stop touching.

The memory of what happened kept living in his head, but he no longer felt anything about it. He wasn't sure why, he just felt like he could forgive something like that, that there was a good explanation for this and he didn't even want to hear it. Staring at the reflection in his eyes, he convinced himself that Daisuke no longer had anything to do with his life, and if he decided to approach him, it would be nothing more than the breeze that was blowing through his window.

He turned his back to the mirror, dedicating himself to drying off and putting on comfortable clothes.

Exiting the bathroom, he walked down the hall to go down to his bedroom. Whenever he set foot in his room, his eyes looked at Roboppi, expecting to see his lights on, yet he already knew that would not happen. He approached the little robot, stroking his head without feeling a bit of dust, although just in case, he opted to wet a cloth and run it over Roboppi's inactive little body, making sure it was clean and dry.

This done, he was about to flop onto the bed and sink to rest, yet his phone vibrated persistently. It was a call from Takeru; a video call, again.

He stared at the screen for a few seconds before answering, pressing the edges of the phone as if he were trying to break it with just the force of his fingers. He wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with another human being, even if it was Takeru, much less when he had a cut on his lip that it screamed everywhere that something bad had happened.

He didn't think of an excuse, he just got carried away and answered the call, lying on his bed while he raised the phone so that the camera caught another face decorated with dark circles and discouragement.

Meanwhile, Takeru looked pretty well.

The conversation went through a normal path, the one who had spoken the most was Takeru, and he was already used to Yusaku not saying anything, especially when he looked so exhausted. But he always made sure every second of the call that Yusaku was okay, and for an instant, Yusaku believed that the short conversation would end without Takeru saying anything about his appearance.

He was calm in that small instant that he voted for Takeru's ignorance and distraction.

"When are you going to tell me what happened to that split lip?"

He opened his mouth to lie, he was ready to say something, but he didn't say anything.

"Yusaku?"

He wasn't staring at his partner on the small screen of the phone when he began to recall everything he felt with Ai — with Daisuke — and the pain that began to persist in his chest.

He swallowed heavily before pronouncing dryly, "Don't ask."

"Yusaku, I …"

"Please," he interrupted. "Don't ask."

Why did he suddenly start to feel so overwhelmed? As if the air had run out and he could no longer breathe, he felt that the room was smaller and, at the same time, that the ceiling was spinning, as he looked for the way to tolerate the sadness that meant everything that Ai's absence made him live.

Ai wasn't dead, but he felt that couldn't have been worse. If Ai was dead at least he would know where he was, or rather, where he was not, instead, now he had no idea what he was doing and the less he knew, the more he worried. That worry added to the idea that Ai was not going to return, and for some reason, it made him feel sad.

And it made him feel very lonely.

"Okay, I won't ask." Takeru sighed slightly. "You know, I'll be back in the city on summer vacation. I'll let you know"

Yusaku blinked, trying to stay steady enough to keep the normal conversation attempt that Takeru was trying to carry.

Still, he knew that Takeru was saying something else with that news. He would not come because he missed the city, but to see how things were going around Yusaku, and not to leave him alone; to share the pain.

However, there was a big difference between the two and that was …

… Flame was dead and Ai probably wasn't.

~°~

The food had been enough to shut the mouths of the two humans. Shima didn't have anything interesting to say, and that was more relief than annoyance, but the one who seemed to be most focused on talking about something important was Aoi, although it was not a sure fact, he did his best to divert her from any thought, pressing her to continue eating; he brought food to her mouth with a playful behaviour.

She didn't speak of Yusaku, or the reason why he had been absent or why he didn't look so ill. The conversation were carried by him and sometimes Shima, and they never referred to anything relevant.

It took an hour and a half at least until Shima decided to leave because he was full, and having to return to his house, despite Daisuke's feigned insistence. After a minute or two, without saying anything else, Aoi decided the same.

"Aren't you staying, Aoi-chan?" Daisuke asked "Cold soup is still a delicacy~"

Aoi was walking towards the door, she pursed her lips, as if she were considering her answer. "It's almost eight at night, my brother will be worried"

Daisuke cocked his head, smiling. "Well, it would be rude of me not to walk you home"

The girl shrugged. "I'm fine, I don't need you to …"

Daisuke took her by the shoulders and began to push her to the door "A gentleman must follow the lady back to her house. In fact, I'll pay for the taxi,” he hummed.

Aoi just rolled her eyes. "If you insist."

Ai had no idea whether or not Aoi knew where Yusaku lived at this point, but he also didn't want to bet on his intuition and he decided to stop her to go talk to him. The less those two were together, the better.

He was unsure why that idea bothered him so much, that strange sour feeling was what prompted him to act this way; distancing Yusaku from the girl who was a threat to him. Perhaps because Aoi was pushing Yusaku to investigate the robbery, or because she separated him from continuing to remember Ai and his absence.

As soon as they left the apartment, Aoi stood leaning against a nearby pole while Daisuke seemed to be impatiently watching the cars go by.

"Why isn't a taxi passing by?" The boy muttered.

Aoi frowned, confused and slightly concerned about the intelligence of her companion. "I thought you called one"

Without looking at her, Ai replied, "I'm not sure how to do that"

It was the truth, he had no idea how taxis worked, and ge didn't bother to find out. At times like these, he needed the wisdom of the Light Ignis, or Yusaku.

Aoi rolled her eyes and began to walk. "I'd better go on foot," she sighed. It was at that moment that Daisuke called her to wait for him, seeing that the girl took long and difficult steps to reach.

In her distraction, the girl collided with a man who exuded an intense smell of alcohol, and from the way he pushed her in shock: he was in a very bad mood.

"I'm sorry," Aoi muttered, staring at the bloodshot eyes of the man in front of her.

The alcoholic man narrowed his eyes on her and brought his face closer to the girl's, as if he were inspecting her. "I've seen you before," he trailed off his words. "The rich girl who was with her brother avoiding the press"

Aoi looked away. "You're mistaking me for someone else"

She did her best to avoid him, trying to pass him but the man grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. The girl was surprised by letting out a slight cry of fright as pieces of glass were scattered near her because of the man who broke the bottle.

"Don't fuck with me! That asshole is going to pay! He will pay every penny I lost!"

Aoi stirred, seeking to escape. She wanted to yell at the man to defend the innocence of her brother, but reasoning with a violent and drunken guy was a waste of time, especially when the man was about to attack her with the broken bottle and she couldn't find a way to defend herself from it . She closed her eyes, waiting for a hit that never came.

"What the ... ?!" She heard the man complain.

"Be more careful, you could hurt someone"

Aoi widened her eyes in surprise. She quickly recognized that voice "Fujimoto-kun!” she exclaimed, concerned. Daisuke was holding the guy by his forearm, preventing him from attacking with the bottle, but Daisuke looked stiff, smiling, as if he wasn't using any force, nor was he scared.

The girl had forgotten that Daisuke decided to accompany her, and honestly, she was relieved by his presence.

The attacker's attention was focused on Daisuke now, he was shaking his arm, trying to free himself from the grip. "Let go of me!"

"Drop the bottle first. Don't make me break your arm,” Ai hummed, touching the tip of the man's nose with his free finger. He didn't want to hurt the man, he expected him to freak out quickly or something, what he was saying now were just empty threats.

Aoi kept still and quiet, looking forward to this ending in the most peaceful way. Daisuke was just a student, how much could he do with a man who was out of his mind?

"Try it!" the man answered, taking advantage of the fact that the boy had loosened his grip to get away and try to attack him, however, the boy took him by the arm again and this time, he squeezed so hard that he could feel one of his bones breaking.

Ai shuddered. He had reacted quickly, and he didn't expect his inhuman strength to betray him now. The man's scream was horrible to his ears, and for that instant that he was scared of himself, he released the man, who was struggling not to fall to his knees to the ground.

Aoi took a moment to understand that Daisuke had broken that man's arm, she thought that the man was only exaggerating, but it wasn't like that. Still, there was not a single expression in Daisuke's face.

That was because Ai had learned to control the way he expressed his true emotions, and despite being surprised and frightened by his ability, he did not feel a trace of regret. He even knew that he could do it again, or maybe something much worse.

"Fujimoto-kun…" Aoi began to say, who was already free. "Let's go"

Before Daisuke obeyed her words, the man stopped crying at his broken arm, to glare at the boy. "You're a ..." he muttered. "... monster"

Aoi was about to get in the way as soon as she saw that the man got up probably trying to punch him, but Daisuke backed away causing the attacker to grab his scarf and rip it off. The girl abandoned all escape plans, any thoughts that involved the situation that she was living now had disappeared, because her entire attention was on Daisuke's neck.

"Fu-Fujimoto… kun."

Due to the pain in his arm, the attacker fell to the ground next to the scarf, with no more strength to get up.

"Do you think we should call an ambulance or something?" Daisuke asked, feigning ignorance, but Aoi insisted on looking at him, backing away as if she feared him.

What was she looking at?

"Y-You're a… You're a SOLtis," the girl sighed.

It was then that Aoi could finally notice an expression on Daisuke's face, one of confusion, and then one full of tension.

Ai brought his hand to his neck, touching his crystal. He expected to feel the scar he had designed to camouflage the crystal while he was outside. That camouflage was difficult to keep for long and he had to undo it every so often, so while he stayed in the apartment, he kept the crystal showing on his neck.

He had modified his SOLtis, but he still had to keep modifying it, because it wasn't quite perfect; he wasn't human yet. His disguise wasn't going to last long, although he was grateful that this didn't happen with Yusaku.

It was better to resign.

A smile decorated his face, watching the man on the ground that probably hadn't heard much as he was focusing on the intense pain in his arm, but, just in case …

"Before you say anything, Aoi-chan, let me take care of the intruders"

He squatted in front of the man, pulling his hair to force him look up. "I don't want strangers to know about this, I wouldn't know how to solve such an annoying matter," he added, placing his finger on the man's forehead. Ai's eyes shone brightly, just as those of the man in his hands was losing their light, falling unconscious to the ground when the boy released him like trash.

"What did you do to him?! Who are you?!'' Aoi exclaimed, dreading the answer.

Ai straightened up, his face filled with a gloomy energy that soon changed to a smiling and playful one as soon as he looked at the girl "One question at a time, okay?" he said, "I took off his mind so he won't be able to bother us anymore. Anyway, his life was ruined,” he uttered contemptuously.

"You took away his… Who the hell are you?!"

The girl insisted on asking, but her eyes were resisting tears because she was already deducing the answer.

And Daisuke finished confirming it "I'm not just a SOLtis. I am an Ignis"

Aoi swallowed heavily before whispering, "Ai"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Comments and kudos are so well appreciated!
> 
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> Twitter: @CrimsonDreams4  
> Tumblr: xxxcrimsondreamsxxx


	6. The shadow comes to light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoi knows part of the truth.  
> Ai does something about it.  
> Aoi doesn't know what to do.  
> But both keep Yusaku behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished with the uni stuff. Yay! Now I'm just naturally slow.  
> I'm writing at my own pace, sorry! I'm planning to do a collection of short holiday stories but idk, I don't like to make promises lol.

The weather had cooled a lot, the cold now reaching her even within the four walls of the living room of Daisuke—Ai's— apartment.

Aoi still couldn't believe that Ai was the one who callously ended a man's life, that even though he would have killed her if it had not been for the Ignis saving her, the simple act of taking his consciousness and talking about his life as if it were trash wasn't something she would imagine Ai would do. Aoi didn't know much about the Dark Ignis, but the little she knew about him, made her think that he wouldn't kill a fly.

There was no sudden change in his personality, except for those short moments where he showed an irrational hatred towards the species that Lightning declared war on, Aoi could not determine if Ai was being manipulated or if there was some configuration on his code to make him act this way. Why did he lie to her? What was the purpose of it?

"Come on, don't look at me like that, like I'm the villain of the movie"

Ai broke the silence with a content voice, as if there was nothing to feel nervous or scared about. Aoi was staring at Ai the entire moment he paced from the living room to the kitchen to serve her a cup of hot tea and a plate of cookies.

"What do you expect me to do? Ai, what you did was not… ” Aoi began, not finding the right words to express her emotions. Probably attacking Ai the first time would be unfair, so she held back that need "What would Fujiki-kun think if he knew about this?"

"But he doesn't know, and he won't," Ai replied, nibbling on a cookie. He was smiling, but that smile did not mean kindness, for some reason, it caused Aoi's entire body to shudder as if the Ignis was threatening her, as if saying:

_You're not going to tell him anything, or things will go very bad for you._

And it was possible that this was what this talk was about, because if not, Ai would have let her go back to her house.

"Eat! Eat! I've always wanted to have a tea session" he applauded "With intimate talks, talking about our secrets, about the person we like. Like little girls do, right?"

He again stretched an almost catlike smile, resting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his own intertwined fingers. Aoi swallowed heavy.

"Did you and Miyu do that when you were little?"

Aoi couldn't help but feel that Ai's every word was a threat and it hurt to think about it, so she couldn't find a word to answer.

"Oh, my manners. How is Miyu? Did she recover herself?"

Aoi had to cough a bit to settle her throat as her voice had faded. She didn't dare to drink the tea, she didn't want to admit that it was because she was afraid that Ai had poisoned it or something like that, she tried not to be paranoid just because of a misunderstanding.

"Yes," Aoi answered in a husky voice.

"Ah, what a relief," he said happily before changing to a more gloomy tone. "It's a shame Aqua isn't here to see it"

A deathly silence was created as the two stared at each other, which allowed Aoi to keep her mind cold and realize where Ai wanted to go with all this, it was a bomb that could explode at the worst moment if not treated on time.

"So that's what happens…" the girl started to say. "Do you want revenge, Ai?"

She heard the crack coming from a cookie that Ai broke with his thumb from playing with it so much.

"Why should I answer you? So you tell me that revenge is not the answer? If I wanted to be scolded, I'd call Yusaku"

"Well, call him," Aoi replied defiantly.

And Ai continued stretching smiles until there was no face to show up, while he slowly approached, as if he waited for her to back away, but Aoi did not move "If I do that, say goodbye to your brother."

"Akira has nothing to do with this."

"Nor Yusaku. But if we are going to bring in people who have nothing to do with our stuff, then let's bring the whole family so that no one feels left out, ” the Ignis hummed. His mock pleased expression changed to a thoughtful one, shifting his gaze to the ceiling, resting his chin on his long index finger. "Ah, I'm contradicting myself. Actually, we will have to involve Yusaku,” he began to mutter, speaking to himself.

Aoi tapped the cup with her fingers to try to keep calm in front of the unpredictable Ignis. She was not understanding what his intentions were, although he would surely avoid at all costs to discuss this with Yusaku, for some reason that Ai was not yet explaining.

Ai snapped and returned his gaze to the girl. "I know, if I have to involve Yusaku, I'll involve your brother as well. That's what I said, right? Let's make it happen!"

"Why?! Ai, I don't know what's going on, but surely there must be another solution. Fujiki-kun… Fujiki-kun misses you so much!"

That seemed to enter Ai's ears and touch his heart in some way, Aoi hoped that it would calm the retained anger that she felt coming from him. Ai showed calm in his voice, and also another smile, which this time was genuine and sad.

"I know, and I miss him too, but…" he started to say, "I can't go back with him"

Finally, Aoi heard a reply from Ai that didn't seem to have ulterior motives, but still left her with more doubts than answers.

"Why?"

Ai just changed the subject "Do you remember Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, Aoi-chan? The card created from my family feelings, from Aqua's feelings, thanks to it we were able to defeat Bohman; thanks to it, you were able to save your dear friend"

Aoi pursed her lips.

"I want that card back, but I can't get it as Daisuke, much less as Ai, so I need you to take it from Yusaku for me and bring it to me"

"Why do you want that card for? Ai, I'm not going to do anything unless you explain what's going on. Why did you have to steal money from those people? Why did you coldly take a man's consciousness? How many lives did you steal? Why…?" Aoi began to shake, even so, she managed to find the words to express what she wanted to know the most and what hurt the most "Why are you hurting Fujiki-kun?"

There was a minute or two of silence, only the whistle of the breeze could be heard. Ai brought his hand to the girl's cheek, and gently stroked it.

Ai emanated a lot of sadness in his gaze, the threatening daggers he threw at first now took the form of an apology. As if saying:

_I'm sorry I can't help it._

The Ignis turned away from the girl and sighed tiredly. "Wow, you do ask a lot of questions. I am asking you this because I don't want to hurt him, but if you are not going to do anything, then I have no choice"

He stood up, and it seemed that he was already ending the conversation, however, there was something that was not very clear and Aoi got up to insist about it "What will happen if I don't agree to do what you say?"

"I'll have to take your brother's consciousness," Ai said simply. "Don't make me behave like the bad guy," he whimpered.

Aoi clenched her fists so tightly that they paled, she was shivering and it wasn't exactly from the sudden strange cold "Nothing guarantees that you won't hurt my brother if I give you Darkfluid, because I don't know why you want that card for either, but I guess I don't have a choice” She looked up, showing determination.

"Nope, you don't have a choice. Oh, and if you say something to Yusaku, it's game over for you too"

Ai hummed every word, said that he did not want to play the villain, but Aoi could not help but feel a certain repulsion towards his way of speaking, it was as if he enjoyed what he was doing, as if he wanted to fall against all humans on Earth, even the ones that didn't caused him any harm.

Aoi had a feeling that Ai could play dirty, so she would play dirty too.

~ • ~

Yusaku had decided to go back to class and end this once and for all. Daisuke would no longer mean anything to him, so he was not going to hide in his apartment just to avoid having to receive his apologies, if he ever did. He tried not to care that Daisuke remembered that kiss, in fact, Yusaku wanted to act as if that kiss had not happened, at least until it was time to face the situation as it should be and then turn the page.

He hadn't spoken to Kusanagi about it, and he wouldn't discuss it with anyone, although he didn't have more trusted people to cross off his list, so he was calm.

He walked up the stairs to the school entrance step by step like any other day, and he received Shima's agitated welcome, again, like any other day.

"Fujiki-kun! Where have you been?! Zaizen and I have cared so much about you! Well, I have worried more! And now you come as if nothing?! Fujimoto didn't come either and we thought you had joined a gang! Is it that true?! You got into a knife fight?! Did you get stabbed?!"

Yusaku was barely going to make the effort to reply to Shima's sputtering, he distracted himself by taking a mental note of the fact that Daisuke hadn't been in school for the week either. Was he too ashamed to show his face for what happened?

That was slightly comforting.

When he entered the classroom, he didn't found Daisuke and assumed that he was still on his no-show campaign. So he had all afternoon to settle into his own routine of silence and solitude, the one he used to have before Daisuke came into his life and after Ai walked away from it.

Being alone was …

… Much heavier than he remembered.

"Fujiki-kun," he heard a female voice call after the recess bell rang, and he turned to see that it was Aoi, who looked quite pale. "Do you have a moment?"

Yusaku nodded, being guided by the girl to the Dueling Club room that was empty due to the schedule. The boy assumed it was something no one else could hear.

When Aoi opened the door of the club, Yusaku was surprised to feel her startled because inside the room there was …

"Yo! Yusaku-chan! Aoi-chan! Looks like I'm the first to get to the club!" Daisuke greeted, sitting in one of the chairs, playing with the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon stuffed toy. He was giving Aoi a smile from ear to ear, and she felt it.

Aoi felt as if she chewed glass and forced herself to swallow it to silence her intentions to break the promise she made to Ai. There was still no proof that she was going to do it, but she had a feeling that Ai could read her mind, and that's why he was sitting there.

Aoi thought about taking advantage of the fact that Ai had not attended class when she heard Shima yell about it, so she wanted to tell everything to Yusaku as quickly as possible, however, she had no choice. She was between a rock and a hard place.

"Club activities don't start today, but tomorrow," Aoi explained coldly, as if she didn't feel a churning in her stomach.

"Ah? Seriously? So what are you doing here?"

Ai again took on those expressions of feigned awkwardness that Aoi could easily read since last night.

Aoi put a hand to her chest "I wanted to talk to Fujiki-kun, alone."

Ai gave a surprised gasp. "Oh! I'm sorry! Are you going to confess your feelings to him ?! Like in the soap operas ?! How romantic!"

Yusaku looked at the scene in confusion. Aoi seemed to want Daisuke to leave, she was too uneasy about his presence, probably the topic they should talk about was quite urgent. Sure, seeing Daisuke again wasn't as easy for him as he thought, but Aoi's nervousness was a good distraction.

"You and I will talk later, Daisuke. Shima is desperate to see you,” Yusaku intervened, as if he knew how to handle Daisuke perfectly.

"He could collapse, you're right," Daisuke added, getting up from his chair. He headed for the door, but before he passed Aoi, he stopped to whisper to her as he placed the stuffed toy in her arms: "I'll see you later."

Yusaku noticed immediately that something was wrong between the two, he guessed that that might be the topic Aoi wanted to talk about so much. When they were alone, he saw that the girl was hugging the plushie too tightly, she was almost scratching the seams and she did not dare to look the boy in the eyes.

"What did you want to talk about?" Yusaku took the initiative.

Aoi didn't say anything.

"Aoi …"

Yusaku surprised himself by saying the girl's name with too much confidence and concern, and it seems that this also caught her attention because it was enough for her to look up from him.

They shared a long silence looking at each other, Yusaku was patient. He would give Aoi the time he needed to spit out whatever it was troubling her, be it the persecution of the press or something that happened with Daisuke. Yusaku waited.

And Aoi swallowed heavily, feeling that her heart was going to leap out of her chest. A few days ago she had asked Yusaku for help with the matter of the mysterious emptying of the bank, now she discovered the culprit, she knew it was the SOLtiS. Should she tell him that he didn't need to help her anymore, that she had already figured it out? Would she tell him that she knew Ai was… okay? Would she lie to him? Would she betray the boy who saved her multiple times without receiving anything in return?

She hated this unfair destiny where nothing could be enough, where she couldn't have a second of peace or give it to those who mattered most to her. Yes, she cared a lot about Yusaku, but …

… her older brother was her priority. She was going to protect him.

"I would like to have a duel with you," she asked suddenly, forcing a kind smile. "You know, as friends."

Yusaku raised an eyebrow, looking clearly confused, but, it didn't take long for him to accept.

After class they went to Aoi's apartment to deal with the real cards of Playmaker and Blue Maiden, Akira would be working, so they were alone. Lately, Yusaku carried his cards with him, well stored in a case so that, even if he stumbled and fell, no one would be able to peep on its content. It was something that he occasionally took with him, to feel close to Ai.

They faced each other seated, with the cards on the table, without the wind of the digitized environment kissing the faces of their avatars, and with the calm of silence and the intimacy of their voices along with the sound of the clock hands marking time. Aoi tried to have fun, and she succeeded, forgetting the reason why she had challenged him and taking this confrontation as if it were to be their last.

After this, she wouldn't dare to look Yusaku in the face again.

"Ah! I lost,” Aoi sighed, although actually, she wasn't very surprised. After all, she was facing the Playmaker himself, not even the Marincess were rivals for him "It's the first time we can afford to lose, without having to give our lives in exchange" she smiled.

Yusaku seemed to be on automatic mode as he shuffled his deck, because it took a while for him to process Aoi's words and reply, "It's true."

Aoi winced as she saw Yusaku vaguely stretch his lips into what could be called a smile. And it would be gratifying to see that, if it weren't that she was about to betray his trust.

"Even if we're not in VRAINS, those cards are still responding to Fujiki Yusaku."

In response to the girl's comment, Yusaku looked wistfully at his deck, at the Cyberse Wizard at the end. It was almost as if fate wanted him to get these cards.

His path had been illuminated to reach this deck, and probably no one would have found and used it better than him. That would be an arrogant way of taking the matter, actually he didn't believe that he was anyone very special, but time and circumstances created a link between the cards and him, that to say that it was all a coincidence would be too naive.

These were the cards he and Ai used together and it couldn't be otherwise.

"I still don't feel worthy of using the cards Aqua gave me. I have not been able to use them well, because I didn't protect her as I had promised"

"We did what we could"

Aoi shook her head. " _You_ did what you could," she said suddenly, releasing the frustration that she had kept deep in her heart. " _You_ saved Miyu; _you_ saved us all. _You_ are Playmaker, our hero, and we can never repay you for what you did for us. We will be in eternal debt with you"

She spoke in plural, but she said it more for herself than for anyone else. Since she did not feel enough to return even a small part of Yusaku's greatness, she is now so weak to betray him and hide the truth from him.

She was not able to help him, but she was able to steal from him.

She shook her head, and rubbed her eyes to prevent the tears from being exposed. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," she excused herself as she got up, hitting the edge of the table causing the furniture to shake and throw up the decks to the floor.

Her Marincess mixed with Yusaku's cards, even the extra deck was left on the ground.

"I'm sorry! I will pick it up!"

Yusaku was more concerned by the girl's notorious distress than by the cards on the floor. However, both were silent as they gathered their respective cards.

"M-My brother will be coming soon, and he will be very stressed."

"I'd better leave then," Yusaku said, putting his cards away and looking at the window that showed the sunset. "Will you be okay?"

Aoi nodded. "It was fun…" She bit her lip before saying the following. "Yusaku"

"We could repeat it one day," the boy dared to say.

"Yeah, someday…"

Although Aoi wasn't quite sure if that day would come …

… The day they would have a duel without worrying about anything.

~ • ~

Aoi was walking towards Daisuke — Ai — apartment hours after she made sure her brother had arrived safely from work. She played with her hands, sometimes hugging her own bag checking that it was properly closed. She swallowed several times to get rid of the feeling of guilt and insecurity transmitted by the lie that was stored in her chest.

She stopped her steps in front of the plaza near Ai's residence, on the same block where she discovered his true identity. She heard the screeching of the swings, and although the area was not very crowded, there was someone there.

"Nice to see you, Aoi-chan."

It was as if Ai had installed a tracker on her, he always knew where to find her.

Why? Why was Ai behaving this way? If it was painful and confusing for her, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like for Yusaku or if would he even find out about it, because whatever Ai had planned, Yusaku would probably end up finding out. He wasn't stupid.

Ai was swinging standing on the seat, waiting for Aoi to say something. The girl entered the square with hesitant steps, and she reached into her bag to take out a card.

"I have what you wanted," she showed Darkfluid in her hand. Ai's eyes shone, Aoi couldn't describe the feeling that the Ignis was expressing right now, because it was very difficult to read.

"I don't care how you got it. I am satisfied"

Ai jumped off the swing, approaching the girl, who quickly pushed the card away from her.

"But I won't give it to you so easily."

"Oh?"

Ai put his hand on his hip, carrying that mocking expression.

Aoi was not going to be intimidated by the unknown, by the unpredictability of the Dark Ignis. She was going to protect her brother without losing her values and her true self, in addition, to give back to Yusaku part of what he had done for her, saving Ai from whatever dark feeling was tormenting him. right now.

"I will fight with you"

"Are you challenging me to a duel, outdoors?"

"There's no one here," Aoi clarified, putting on the duel disk.

Ai shrugged. "Yeah, that's true, but I don't like getting my hands dirty, you know?"

He extended his finger to the girl's forehead, causing her to freeze in her place. Would he take away her consciousness from her? Would he manipulate her mind? What was he doing?

Aoi closed her eyes tightly and when she opened them, she was on the school rooftop, her appearance was different. She was wearing her Blue Maiden avatar.

"What…?"

"We are on the network, I imitated the school rooftop. You know, because it's the biggest place I know in the school," Ai explained. "The school, where everyone knows me as Fujimoto Daisuke, where you and Yusaku can talk to each other as if they were friends, where you pretend to be a normal person. Shall we start?"

They both got into position and exclaimed: "Duel!"

It started with the turn of Blue Maiden, who handled her Marincess fluidly like that time she fought Bohman, not in the same relaxed way she did when she had that duel for fun with Yusaku. This time she was Blue Maiden, she was there to protect her brother and stop Ai.

Ai watched her plays with interest, and couldn't help interrupting her to say: "I see you didn't return with your Trickstars, the cards Aqua gave you suit you well"

"This deck is the only thing that keeps me close to Aqua, because there isn't a second that I don't regret not being able to protect her."

Ai erased his smirk.

"Ai, we feel the same sadness. We don't have to fight"

"Said the one who just challenged me to a duel," Ai muttered as he scratched the back of his neck, feigning nonchalance.

"I will fight anyone who threatens my brother's life. Win or lose, I won't disappear without a fight"

"Are you already assuming you're going to lose? That's not a good fighting spirit," he yawned."With that lack of self-confidence, you won't be able to protect anyone"

"Actually, I don't want to fight you, Ai. I don't understand why you want Darkfluid, but I've lost my trust in you since I saw you take that man's consciousness away, since you keep kicking my questions and stop behaving honestly. I don't want Yusaku to have to face that"

Ai flinched, as if Blue Maiden had just said a bad word ” 'Yusaku'? Since when did you call him 'Yusaku'?" he asked dryly.

"Does that matter now?"

Ai clenched his fists, there's unreasonable rage on his face.

"The only thing that matters is, you missed your chance to speak. Let's continue with the duel!"

Blue Maiden was about to insist, Ai gave off a dangerous aura, so probably her best option was to continue with her turn, in fact, it was the only option. Ai had no intention of explaining himself.

Blue Maiden ended her turn, leaving Marincess Marbled Rock and a magic or trap card face down on the field.

Ai glared at his opponent. That was the only thing he saw, an opponent, someone who got in the way and had to remove her at any cost, it didn't matter if he had to play dirty, it didn't matter if it was someone who also gave everything to help them defeat Bohman, or someone who could open Yusaku's heart, who was alone for a long time and needed to strengthen his bonds.

Yusaku needed friends, a future. Yusaku needed to be a normal boy, with dreams, crushes, and maybe a family.

It was a future where Yusaku looked forward and never back, where Ai was.

Slowly, Ai was realizing that there was no place in that future, unless he made his place, but Blue Maiden was not allowing him.

Anyway, she was too naive, she didn't realize that she was already a useful token in his game.

Those were Lightning's words, and although they sounded harsh, they were correct.

_"I must admit I'm proud, Ai, you were pretty smart"_

_Ai was quiet, disgusted with himself because he was uncomfortable manipulating people and more whom he considered his friends. He sometimes forgot why he held a grudge against them, why there was so much envy present inside him, thinking about how happy they are with their lives, moving into a future where those who had called their companions, had died._

_He didn't know what to do with Aoi, she had discovered his secret, and he really didn't want Yusaku to find out now, he didn't want to have to explain everything to him because it would complicate the mission of rescuing his family. It would be weird to say that he had to take his consciousness to save the Ignis, and even if Darkfluid was a solution, he wasn't one hundred percent sure it was._

_"You made her a useful token instead of a nuisance, quickly got rid of her, and solved Darkfluid's problem. When you least expect it, you will have us in front of your eyes …_

_… You will save us"_

_"And I will never fail to protect them. It's a promise"_

"You are stupid for denying me Darkfluid." If I don't have it, not only will your brother get hurt, but Yusaku will. That's why I need it, and because I have a promise to keep. It's my turn!"

Blue Maiden wasn't expecting anything specific when she saw Ai draw a card, but she knew Ai's field very well. His cards, his plays.

"Ai, are you …"

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be true.

Ai was using ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Let's see what cards does Ai have.  
> I'm not much into writing duels, so I will just put the parts I care about for the plot. That will be, in the next chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> You can follow me on:
> 
> Twitter: @CrimsonDreams4  
> Tumblr: xxxcrimsondreamsxxx


	7. In the end, nothing changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue Maiden tries to fight against Ai's hidden intentions.  
> Ai fights for what he wants.  
> What does Ai want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Duel chapter! This is the first time I write a duel, and it was so freaking exhausting. I did all my research to not mess up and I really hope I didn't mess up!!!  
> Sorry again for keep you guys waiting, I'm trying so hard not to be late, but I can't help it.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

They were trapped in the walls of a coliseum. 

There were no longer buildings or the respective gates of the school terrace. There was no sign that they were on the roof of the school because everything around them was replaced by a coliseum without an audience. Only Blue Maiden and Ai faced each other, accompanied by their cards.

Blue Maiden trembled in amazement, for in front of her eyes was a swordsman in bluish Roman armor who looked quite small when being with a gold-armored elephant behind. She had seen before this monsters; the deck Ai was using wasn’t new.

"Ai, why are you…?"

“I wanted to use my own cards, I swear,” the Ignis said as if mocking, before extending his hand and keep going with the duel “I activate the effect of _Armatos Legio Magnus Dux_ : once while this card is face-up on the field, I can target as many cards in your field or graveyard as there are monsters co-linked to Magnus Dux and return them to your hand. Goodbye, Marbled Rock!”

Blue Maiden grunted. _Ai was using Lightning's cards, why? Perhaps he was carrying Lightning wishes to take revenge?_

Ai got used too well, in a short time he had filled his empty field leaving _Armatos Legio Tribunus Militum_ in front of his co-linked to the aforementioned Magnus Dux, if he returned Marbled Rock to the Extra Deck, she would be exposed to a direct attack from both, Ai wouldn't need to use Judgment Arrows to finish her off this turn, if he even had that card.

"Too bad you didn’t last, Blue Maiden. I guess I'm better at using other people's cards than you,” Ai said, smiling maliciously, every word he dedicated to the girl was loaded with poison.

If a few months ago they told her that Ai was going to behave this way, she wouldn't have believed it, maybe she would even have laughed. But right now, the last thing she wanted to do was laugh.

Even if she hadn't lost yet.

"You are wrong!" she exclaimed. "I activate my face-down card _Marincess Wave_!"

Denying the effect of Magnus Dux, she secured a second chance. Ai had no cards in his hand, so Judgment Arrows was not an option for him this turn. So his attack was enough to defeat Marbled Rock, but not to make her lose.

Before starting her turn, Blue Maiden stared at Ai, reading his expression a strange sign of enjoyment and determination. Ai maybe couldn't stop seeing her as a puppet, a pathetic token in his chess game. She had never faced Lightning, but witnessed his arrogance, his gloomy aura around his menacing light.

"Ai, why are you using Lightning’s cards? Are you planning to inherit his wishes?”

"Ah, I told you I didn't want to use his cards, but if I didn't, he would be offended"

Blue Maiden had it on the tip of her tongue, she was about to remind him that Lightning was dead, but she didn't know how it could affect Ai, so she kept quiet.

"Also, the conflict that Lightning unleashed with his selfish desires has already been sealed. I'm fulfilling my own selfish wish, one that neither you nor Yusaku can understand,” Ai confessed, showing a sad smile again.

"What makes you think Yusaku won't understand?"

"Ah! You call him by his name again,” the Ignis whimpered, trying not to be irritated about it.

The one who made no effort to hide her irritation was Blue Maiden, grunting openly. "You keep changing the subject and laughing like nothing's wrong. I’m sick of you! If I win the duel you will have to confess everything, and not only to me, but to Yusaku! Also, you will return the money you stole”

"Perfect, you're finally getting serious," he applauded. "And if I win, you'll give me Darkfluid, and you'll forget all of this happened," Ai said, without croons, without jokes, he just kept the same firmness as Blue Maiden with his own terms; conditions Blue Maiden knew she would be bound to abide by at any cost.

She wasn't sure why her legs were shaking so badly, if she hadn't lost yet. She still had one chance, perhaps too many.

The duel continues and her field takes on a better appearance, summoning _Marincess Wonder Heart_ , equipping it with Marbled Rock, _Coral Anemone_ and _Blue Slug_ thanks to the _Marincess Battle Ocean_ card, which also increases its attack. Although it was not enough to finish Ai in one fell swoop.

However, she still had a card in her hand that could help her, and Ai had nothing but what his field offered, and it was too late to activate its effects.

"Ah, the same thing you did against Bohman. I was expecting something different,” Ai feigned disappointment.

"It's different from the moment I'm facing _you_ ,"

“Yes, you're right. I'm not like Bohman” he smirked “I'd do absolutely _everything_ in my power to get what I want”

Blue Maiden arched an eyebrow. "And you think Bohman didn't?”

"I think Bohman didn't know what he wanted."

Blue Maiden was tempted to ask Ai what exactly he wanted, but she knew it would just be a waste of time. She already had everything ready to win, in a few minutes she would have Ai spitting out the whole truth.

Wonder Heart attacked Magnus Dux, and Blue Maiden activated the _Marincess Current_ trap from her hand, which would cause Ai greater damage, one that would end this duel.

Ai had nothing to defend himself with, there were no cards in his hand.

Or so she thought ...

"I activate my skill _SalvA.I.tion_!” Ai blurted out.

“What?!”

A skill in a Master Duel? Sure, he was an Ignis, Bohman could also do it for the same reason, the Ignis were able to manipulate the algorithms at will, hence the rules of the duel.

“When I have no cards in hand, it allows me to _randomly_ add a trap or magic card from the deck and activate it from my hand”

Ai said that so naturally that Blue Maiden didn't know what to say. She waited a few seconds to see if Ai wasn't playing a prank on her, she was expecting anything but this. Blue Maiden saw in front of her eyes how a card materialized in Ai's hand and Ai activated it without shame.

Ai looked at his card and smiled with amusement, could it be…?

Blue Maiden distrusted Ai, she was realizing that now when she didn’t believe that the card could come out randomly, as he said.

“Oh! This is timely! I activate a trap from my hand _Armatos Deditio_ , I tribute the target attack, Magnus Dux to force an end to the battle phase. And if the tributed monster was a Link one, I can draw cards equal to half of its Link Rating, that means, I draw two cards”

Armatos Deditio? She had never heard about that card. The effect was processed and validated on the duel disks, the Wonder Heart attack never came and both Magnus Dux and the said trap card that Ai drew thanks to his skill were in the graveyard. An ear-to-ear smile was decorating Ai's face, and Blue Maiden couldn't help but tremble.

Why? Why was she feeling terrified and helpless? This was something that could happen, and still she had chances to win, right?

Did she ever have a chance?

However, in her mind she couldn't help repeating that this was all a joke in bad taste; Ai was making fun of her.

Blue Maiden tried to breath, she wasn't going to let him drive her crazy, so she smiled back at him confidently.

"You managed to save yourself. For a moment I thought you would use Judgment Arrows, I don't remember Lightning using that card”

The girl surprised herself when she managed to utter a word, because she felt that her throat had closed, that her stomach was full of acid that threatened to burn her flesh and bones, while the cold ran through her arms and legs.

Then, Ai said it: “I'm also surprised at myself! I just created this card as you were making your move, I didn't think it would work. Am I not great?”

"You mean…?"

Blue Maiden felt like she was about to pass out.

"Oh, whoops! I said something that I shouldn't. Anyway! I didn’t lie! The card _did_ come out randomly, it really was a stylish salvation,” he shook his hair.

"It wasn't necessary…" Blue Maiden murmured. "You could have prevented your possible defeat without wasting your skill. You didn't need to make that joke!”

Ai feigned confusion, tilting his head as he touched his lower lip with his index finger. “Joke?”

There was a moment of silence, one that made Blue Maiden try to swallow the tears of humiliation. The Ignis suddenly stretched a smirk: "Oh, I see," he hummed. "Yes, it was"

_Yes, it was necessary._

Where in his world was it necessary to mock in this way? Ai was not like that. Would he have done the same with Yusaku? Blue Maiden wanted to ask him that, but she was barely remembering how to breathe. Why was she so agitated that Ai made that move? She had a chance ...

She couldn't lose. She didn't have to lose.

"Are you done with your turn? Can I continue?”

Ai snapped her out of her musings and forced her pathetically nod. The Ignis began his plays cleanly, as if nothing had happened, while Blue Maiden wondered if it was worth it to keep trying when she no longer felt that her own cards were hers.

The Marincess weren't ...

She shook her head. Of course it was worth it, no matter how hard Ai laughed, she would shut his mouth. She was not fighting for her pride but for her brother and for Yusaku.

She had to try harder. She had to…

"Oh, I have to get rid of Battle Ocean. It is very annoying”

Ai brought his hand to his chin, closing his eyes as he thought, and abandoned that look after snapping contently. “I got it!”

Blue Maiden blinked in confusion.

The Dark Ignis already had an advantage in hand, and it seemed that his plays were not ending as he filled the field. Blue Maiden just watched his movements, trying to predict where he wanted to go with everything he was doing, he would probably take out another Link, use Judgment Arrows, but he didn't seem to draw that card yet with his ‘destiny’ draws.

Although from the look full of determination from the Ignis, it seemed that this card was no longer the least of her problems since the duel began.

In just a couple of blinks, Ai no longer had any cards in hand, but he had the field full with both his Link Tribunus Militum, and two Level 4 Armatos Legio monsters.

Ai shook off his hands, as if brushing off the nonexistent dust. "Okay, all set”

 _All set for what? For what?_ Blue Maiden didn't know why she was so anxious, why she was suddenly so unsure that her cards could defend her from the opponent in front of her.

"I guess I 'm better at using other people's cards than you"

Ai's words echoed in her head, as Ai spoke more important words about his dueling. The Ignis stretched his arms forward, as if showing his palms and said:

"With these two level 4 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!”

The hologram of the cards came together in front of Ai's palms and created a golden flash on the orb of his duel disk that sent a bolt of lightning skyward.

“Supernatural! Breaker! Wake up from your eternal regret!” Ai began his chant.

Blue Maiden's eyes widened, it was not a Link Summon but ...

"XYZ Summon!"

A brilliant golden dragon flew through the skies of the colosseum emerging from the sudden mist that had been created and dispersing it to let the sun shine alongside its own gleaming light.

"Come on, rank 4!"

The dragon spread its wings across the field, imposing its presence with a thunderclap that made the earth tremble for a moment.

"Light Dragon!"

"Light Dragon ..." the girl murmured, surprised "That card is ...”

Had Ai forgiven Lightning after everything he put them through? Who was he hating so much to fight and threaten her like that?

"I activate the effect of Light Dragon!" Ai declared “I use one overlay unit to destroy one of your cards for each Cyberse Light monster I have on the field. And let's see ...”

Ai brought his hand to his chin and pointed to his own monsters on the field “One, two… I can destroy two cards on your field! That is enough for me”

Both Battle Ocean and Wonder Heart were destroyed along with the equipped Marincess. Blue Maiden felt her heart beat vaguely with hope.

“Since you destroyed Wonder Heart, its effect is activated that allows me to bring a Marincess Link 3 or less from my graveyard. Come back Marbled Rock!”

Marbled Rock had more attack than any of the monsters Ai had on the field. That was her only defense for now.

Ai clicked his tongue at the same time that he scratched the back of his neck, showing disappointment and frustration. "Oh, how could I forget that effect?"

"You don't seem to have everything under control, Ai," Blue Maiden uttered with a little more determination, watching the Ignis purse his lips like a little boy pouting.

The golden-eyed Ignis sighed, raising his arms as if resigned. "I guess I have to end my turn ...”

And suddenly a smirk again crossed his lips.

“But I will not”

Blue Maiden was startled. Now what?

“I activate the second effect of Armatos Deditio, banishing both this card and the monster I tributed for its effect from the graveyard”

"Why would you banish Magnus Dux?"

"Because that way, I can give to another Armatos Legio in my field half of Magnus Dux attack points. So, Tribunus Militum gains 1500 more attack points!

Blue Maiden's legs trembled for some unknown reason. Was she going to lose? He had nothing to defend herself with, not cards in her hand, not in her graveyard, not in the field. Nothing could help her right now. Of that she had convinced herself, and she heard a voice in her head that constantly repeated it to her, that she was never capable of winning; and winning meant protecting, if she loses now, she wouldn't protect her brother, or Yusaku.

Maybe not Miyu either.

"I suppose that's enough to win you over, isn't there anything else you have hidden that can prevent me from winning? Nope?”

Ai was smiling, enjoying her look full of defeat. Her life points weren't down yet, they didn't even destroy Marbled Rock and she already felt like she had lost.

Tribunus Militum attacked her Marincess, and then as the final blow she received a burst of light from Light Dragon that painfully shook her entire body and pushed her to the ground.

Blue Maiden had lost the duel.

The coliseum fell apart, and she could see the fake blue sky from the terrace that Ai imitated. Blue Maiden heard footsteps and it took just enough strength to open her eyes and fixate on the golds shining above her. Why did she feel judged? Why was laughter echoing in her mind?

"You could have used that deck better, and maybe you had a chance to beat me, although I could have beat you earlier than expected too, but I wanted to have a little fun," Ai said.

" Why?" she asked with her trembling voice.

"To show you your place. No matter what you do, I will always exceed your limits, because I am an Ignis and you are just a human. Therefore, you will never be able to protect the beings you love or use a deck that does not belong to you," he said. "I wanted you to give me Darkfluid and you insisted on fighting against me. I hope this time you are smart enough to keep your promise; what has just happened remains between us”

Ai stretched out his hand, making Blue Maiden's duel disk shine, taking from there the long-awaited card between his fingers: Darkfluid.

"I'll give the money back, and everyone will leave you and your brother alone," Ai added, not taking his eyes off the dragon on the card.

“Ai…”

That was not in the agreement, and no matter how much the impulse Blue Maiden had to ask the why of his actions again, she decided to keep her mouth shut, because she knew that Ai would not say a single word and if he said it, it would not be the answer that she wasn’t looking for.

She wanted to believe in Ai, wanted to believe that that act of kindness was one of remorse too.

Blue Maiden couldn't help but close her eyes in exhaustion, for Aoi to suddenly open them, finding herself sitting on the bench in the park where she met Ai. On her lap was Darkfluid's card.

The girl looked up and saw Ai's back a bit far away.

“Wait! Won't you take the card?”

"I already took everything I needed from it. Give it back to Yusaku, or you'll have to find an excuse not to look like a thief”

Ai raised his hand in greeting, without looking back.

~ • ~

“Well? What do you want to tell me?”

The golden-eyed boy crossed his arms, leaning his back against the wall by the window. Sunlight streamed through the empty classroom window, and Daisuke's skin seemed to absorb its glow.

Yusaku couldn't stop looking at him and feel a familiar warmth.

“Don't you ever kiss me again”

Ai blinked in surprise, blushing slightly at how direct he had been with the matter, but, the nostalgic feeling of his voice scolding him made him smile slightly.

Yusaku stared at Daisuke, trying to read his expression, getting no response. Suddenly the tallest one snapped and said, "Oh! Right! I'm sorry! I acted like a jerk that day. In compensation…”

Daisuke extended his hand towards him, still smiling. Yusaku couldn't help but take a step back.

"I don't want us to stop seeing each other, so I'd like to start over. I am Fujimoto Daisuke”

Yusaku swallowed heavily, he was definitely not expecting something like that and he didn't know how to respond to it. Did he want to keep seeing Daisuke? Could he forget all that he felt with his mere existence?

Could he forget about Ai and start over?

No…

He would never forget Ai, but he could start over, walking with a new partner; forming a new bond that felt warm and intense as soon as they shook hands.

"My name is Fujiki, Fujiki Yusaku."

Daisuke widened his smile, and gently squeezed the other's hand.

"It's a pleasure, Yusaku-chan."

Yusaku pulled his hand away and growled, frowning deeply, "Don't call me that"

“Oh! And why not?!”

"It's just Yusaku"

Daisuke's whimpers continued until the classroom door opened “Fujiki-kun, do you have a moment?”

Aoi appeared, her gaze pointed anywhere but towards the people present in front of her.

"We'll see you in class, Yu~sa ~ku," Daisuke winked before leaving the room, without even glancing at the girl, who was hiding a very valuable card in her hand ...

… And empty.

The living room door was closed and Aoi rested her hand on the table, removing it, showed that she left Darkfluid on the table.

"It got mixed up between my cards, I made sure nothing else got mixed up"

Yes, Yusaku had realized that he was missing that one and he was looking for it all night without sleep, he was about to call Aoi about it, but he supposed that, in the disorder, that could have happened.

There was no way someone had stolen Darkfluid, much less Aoi.

Aoi, the girl who left saying nothing more than that, and without once looking at him, as if she was embarrassed, scared or depressed.

Yusaku tried not to dwell on it too much, as he took the card and put it in his box. That card was quite important to him, it was the last he had obtained with Ai and all his companions.

Also, for some reason, he felt nothing when he took it between his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deditio was surrender or unconditional surrender to Rome of the countries defeated by it. I loved this card and use this word to represent Blue Maiden's position. How her defeat feels like she's slowly surrendering and feeling hopeless.
> 
> This really needed to happen to keep with the plot and my next favourite arc: a festival!!!! yaaaay!!!! Nothing good happens at festivals y'know.  
> (Also yeah I know I changed Light Dragon's effect but it's no big deal, plot device)
> 
> Omg I'm so excited for the next arc
> 
> Btw thank you so much to my brother for helping me writing the duel. You're my hero. Actually, Ai was going to cheat, not using a skill, but he made me change that and I LOVE Ai using a skill called "SalvA.I.tion" omg im so smart jsdjhfksdj
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading!!!
> 
> You can follow me on:
> 
> Twitter: @CrimsonDreams4  
> Tumblr: xxxcrimsondreamsxxx


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